Knowles vs nLight
Knowles reported revenue of $593 million in fiscal 2025, 2.3 times nLight's $261 million in fiscal 2025. Knowles' revenue grew 7.2% in its latest year, and nLight's grew 31.6%. Knowles had an operating margin of 11.8%, against -10.2% at nLight.
Side by side
| Knowles | nLight | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 |
| Revenue | $593M | $261M |
| Revenue growth | 7.2% | 31.6% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | −4.9% | 3.2% |
| Gross margin | 43.2% | 29.8% |
| Operating margin | 11.8% | −10.2% |
| Net margin | 7.5% | −9.0% |
| Free cash flow | — | $12M |
| Free cash flow margin | — | 4.7% |
| Return on capital | 6.7% | −20.1% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.6x | — |
| Dividends and buybacks | $65M | $0M |
| Change in diluted share count | −2.3% | 4.3% |
| Last close | $31.27 | $38.02 |
| P/E at the last close | 38.1× | — |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | sold $25.0 million | sold $71.6 million |
| Piotroski F-score | — | 5 of 9 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
KnowlesnLight
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
KnowlesnLight
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
KnowlesnLight