Knowles Corporation KN
Knowles' portfolio reshaping is producing results — operating margin expanded to 13.1% in FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31) from 10.24% in FY2024 on revenue of $593.2M, and the company returned to profitability with $44.2M net income after a $239.5M loss year. BlackRock's newly reported 16.13% stake (approximately 13.78M shares as of the quarter ended 2026-06-30) is a meaningful institutional endorsement of the specialty-components pivot.
However, at $34.18 as of 2026-08-31, the stock trades at 43.3x trailing P/E — a 621% premium to the peer median of 6.0x — while revenue growth has decelerated from 21.17% to 7.17% and free cash flow has declined from $116.5M to $81.9M, with net insider dispositions of $33.2M over 24 months including heavy CEO and CFO sales in August 2026 signaling that management views current pricing as adequate.
What could go wrong
- Valuation compression. At 43.3x P/E and 23.1x EV/EBITDA, any shortfall against management's 30% margin target could trigger a sharp de-rating given the 621% premium to peer median P/E.
- Growth deceleration. Revenue growth has slowed from 21.17% in FY2024 to 7.17% in FY2025; further deceleration would undermine the premium multiple thesis.
- Insider selling. Net insider dispositions total $33.2M over 24 months with 139 sales versus 61 acquisitions, and the CEO and CFO both sold heavily in August 2026 at $38–39 per share.
- FCF erosion. Free cash flow declined from $116.5M in FY2024 to $81.9M in FY2025 as capex rose to $32.1M, weakening the cash-generation narrative.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: FMP annual fundamentals FY2025 and FY2024 · derived_metrics FY2025 and FY2024 · peer_relative · Defense World news, 2026-08-24. Orin's read on KN; not advice.
Twelve months actual closes to 2026-09-24 · actual filings
50-day average 200-day average · volume below
On file
All KN filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $283.3M | 0.0% of fund |
| Goldman Sachs Group | $187.8M | 0.0% of fund |
| Vanguard Capital Management | $153.6M | 0.0% of fund |
| State Street | $145.7M | 0.0% of fund |
| Geode Capital Management | $100.5M | 0.0% of fund |
| Franklin Resources | $75.7M | 0.0% of fund |
55 filers · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 199 Form 4 filings, net −$33.0M. Of the 50 on hand, 0 were open-market purchases and 19 sales— the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about KN
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Start 3 free days →Where it trades
| Metric | Now | Own median | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 46.5× | — | 53.3× |
| EV/EBITDA | 24.8× | — | — |
| P/S | 4.94× | — | — |
| P/B | 4.0× | — | — |
16.6%
free-cash-flow growth every year for 10 years, discounted at 10%, is what today’s price implies — starting from $0.1B of trailing free cash flow. It is an assumption the market is making, not a forecast Orin is making.
What Wall Street published
$41
$38 – $44 · +9% against today's price
- 7 buy or overweight
- 6 hold
- 2 underweight or sell
The analysts’ consensus and their own ratings, not Orin’s. A target is a twelve-month opinion published by the firm that wrote it.
Against the companies it is compared to
| Company | Market cap | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross | Net | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KNKnowles Corporation | $3B | 46.5× | 24.8× | 42.3% | 10.6% | 9% |
| AAOIApplied Optoelectronics, Inc. | $8B | — | — | 28.9% | -9.6% | -6% |
| BELFBBel Fuse Inc. | $3B | 62.7× | 21.3× | 39.5% | 8.1% | 11% |
| ONDSOndas Holdings Inc. | $4B | 79.0× | 63.0× | 43.7% | 96.2% | 19% |
| SONOSonos, Inc. | $2B | — | 16.4× | 46.5% | -2.5% | -10% |
The median is of the 2 peers listed above and nothing else — check it against the column. This company trades 34.3% below it. The peer set is the vendor’s, so a company can appear here that a person would not have chosen.
What it has traded at
What its sector has traded at
Two scales, drawn separately on purpose: a sector median and one company’s multiple are not the same number and putting them on one axis invites a comparison neither series supports.
Every estimate on one scale
The vertical rule is the current price. Ranges and point estimates are the backend’s, published as they were calculated; an arrow means the estimate sits beyond this scale, and its number is on the right.