Fortive Corp vs MKS Inc

Fortive Corp (FTV) is overvalued and MKS Inc (MKSI) is undervalued.

Against our estimates of intrinsic value, MKSI trades at the wider discount: a margin of safety of +49%, against -170% for FTV.

Values as of the 22 Sept 2026 close.

Fortive Corp (FTV)

Discounting its cash flows at 9.4% (average of 3 methods) values the shares at $20.74; the price of $55.95 is 170% above that value, and 74% of that value comes from beyond year five.

Leak Score 27/100 on 3 of 12 signals

MKS Inc (MKSI)

A 8.8x revenue multiple, adjusted for growth and margin, values the shares at $512.86; the price of $260.37 is 49% below that value.

Leak Score 54/100 on 3 of 12 signals

MetricFTVMKSI
VerdictOvervaluedUndervalued
Price$55.95$260.37
Intrinsic value$20.74$512.86
Margin of safety-170%+49%
Leak Score27/100 (3/12)54/100 (3/12)
Market cap$16.9B$17.6B
Revenue growth, 5 years-2.1%11.0%
Operating margin18.2%16.7%
Net margin12.4%10.1%
Return on equity7.3%15.9%
Debt to equity0.581.40
P/E33.0x41.5x
Forward P/E17.2x14.9x
P/B2.8x5.9x
Dividend yield0.4%0.4%

All stocks in Scientific & Technical Instruments