Technology

Semiconductor Equipment and Services

25 investable US stocks · data to Saturday, October 24, 2026

Acquirer's Multiple percentile today63rd percentile

Dearer than in 80% of quarters since 1999Its usual range since 1999 is the 20th to 77th percentile (the middle 80% of quarters), with a median of the 48th. Lower is cheaper: the 10th percentile is cheaper than 90% of the investable US market; the 50th is the middle.

Is it cheap because returns are depressed?

The industry is dear against its own past, and returns on assets are strong (higher than in 84% of quarters), which may justify some of the premium. Free cash flow yield is low (lower than in 86% of quarters), so the cash doesn't support the premium. A low multiple can be warranted when returns on assets are low, and a high one when they are high, so the multiple reads best next to returns and free cash flow, each against the industry's own history.

Over- or under-earning?

Earning about normally

Return on assets ranks at the 67th percentile of investable US stocks, against a median of the 66th and a low of the 12th since 1999. That is close to its usual level, so today's multiple is about right on a normalized basis. If earnings normalize, the multiple would likely fall: from the 63rd percentile today (dearer than 63% of investable US stocks) to around the 48th (about the middle of the market), judging by where it sat in past quarters when returns were at their usual level. If returns fell to their low, it would be around the 84th (dearer than 84% of investable US stocks).

Percentile	Today	Returns normal	Returns at low
Return on assets (higher is better)	67th	66th (median)	12th (low)
Acquirer's Multiple (lower is cheaper)	63rd	48th	84th

Semiconductor Equipment and Services's return on assets as a percentile, quarterly since 1999. The shaded band is its usual range; the dashed line its median.

Percentiles among investable US stocks. Return on assets is operating income over total assets, trailing 12 months. The last two columns show where it sat in past quarters when returns were within 7.5 points of their median (27 quarters) and of their low (11). The past, not a forecast.

Against its own history

Each chart is the industry's median stock as a percentile of all investable US stocks, quarterly since 1999. For the Acquirer's Multiple and debt to equity, lower is better. The shaded band is its usual range (the middle 80% of quarters); the dashed line is its long-run median; the dot is today. Green shading marks the better end of each scale and red the worse, and today's dot takes the colour of where it sits.

Acquirer's MultipleDearer than usualPercentile of enterprise value ÷ operating income: lower is cheaper. Dearer than in 80% of quarters since 1999.

Free cash flow yieldLower than usualPercentile of free cash flow yield: higher is a bigger yield. Lower than in 86% of quarters since 1999.

Shareholder yieldUsual rangeDividends plus buybacks, as a percentile: higher is a bigger yield. Lower than in 62% of quarters since 1999.

Dividend yieldUsual rangePercentile of dividend yield: higher is a bigger yield. Lower than in 59% of quarters since 1999.

Return on assets, 5-yrBetter than usualPercentile of five-year return on assets: higher is better. Higher than in 84% of quarters since 1999.

Debt to equityUsual rangePercentile of debt to equity: lower is less debt. More indebted than in 62% of quarters since 1999.

Company sizeNear its largestPercentile of market cap: higher is larger. Larger than in 97% of quarters since 1999.

Semiconductor Equipment and Services stocks in the screens today

In today's screens, cheapest first. ● marks one of a screen's 30 tracked picks.

Stock	Screen	Acquirer's Multiple	FCF yield	Shareholder yield

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Other Technology industries

Commercial Electronics cheaper than 95%Technology Consulting Services cheaper than 84%Communications Equipment cheaper than 66%Software cheaper than 65%Internet and Data Services dearer than 55%Electronic Components dearer than 72%Manufacturing Equipment and Services dearer than 75%Semiconductor Manufacturing dearer than 76%Information Technology Distribution dearer than 86%Computer Hardware and Storage dearer than 98%

Quarterly since 1999 from point-in-time data. Each quarter, every investable US stock (price above $3, market cap above $75M, average daily trading above $850,000, no OTC, ADRs or MLPs) is placed in a percentile (0-100) against all the others on each metric. An industry's value is the median percentile of its stocks. Industries follow FactSet's RBICS classification. Percentiles describe the past; they are not investment advice or a forecast.