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Knowles Corporation

KN
53
Hardware, Equipment & Parts · Technology
Price
$35.23
-0.26 (-0.73%)
Market Cap
$3.01B
Winston Score
53
Winston is curious
Mixed quality — meaningful strengths and weaknesses.

Share count falling — buybacks

7.8% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 94.7M (2021) → 87.3M (2025)

Knowles Corporation makes tiny microphones and electronic components used inside smartphones, hearing aids, and other devices. Its main products are micro-acoustic microphones and precision filters that help gadgets pick up sound clearly and block out interference. Knowles is one of the largest suppliers of these miniature acoustic components in the world, selling primarily to consumer electronics manufacturers and medical device companies.

The company earns revenue by selling hardware components to device makers, with major smartphone brands and hearing health companies among its biggest customers. Knowles operates globally, with manufacturing in Asia and customers across North America, Europe, and Asia, generating roughly $1 billion in annual revenue. Its competitive position comes from deep engineering expertise in miniaturized acoustics and long-standing customer relationships, but it faces ongoing risk from customer concentration — a small number of large smartphone makers account for a significant share of sales, meaning any shift in their supply chains or product volumes can meaningfully impact Knowles's results.

Winston Score History

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+15.8% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady revenue growth

EPS Growth

>+1,000% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$40M/ year

Rising (+8% vs prior year)

6.8% of revenue

Below sector average (15%)

R&D investment increasing — building for the future

Insider Activity

2.3%ownership

Relatively low insider ownership

Cash Runway

~11 months

$41M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Short runway — potential dilution ahead through share issuance

Cash watch

Knowles Corporation has less than a year of cash at its current burn rate. Growth investors should watch for potential share dilution from future fundraising — that directly reduces your ownership.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

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Quality

Gross Margin
41.3%
Healthy — 41.3% gross margin
Operating Margin
10.5%
Modest — 10.5% operating margin
ROCE
1.8%
Weak — 1.8% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales YoY
+11.2%
Steady sales growth (11.2% YoY)
EPS YoY
N/A
Data not available
EPS Consistency
8/8 quarters
Every recent quarter grew earnings vs last year

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion
200%
Turns 200% of profit into real cash
FCF Margin
11.9%
Modest free cash flow (11.9%)

FCF margin between 10% and 20%. Every $100 in sales becomes $10 to $20 in real cash.

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Stability

Debt / Equity
0.17
Conservative — low debt load (0.17)
Interest Cover
10.67x
Comfortably covers interest (10.7x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)
54.2x
Expensive — P/E 54.2

P/E over 35. The market is pricing in heavy, sustained growth.

P/E vs Forward
+27.0
GROWING
Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (54.2 → 27.3)

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.
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