MKS Beats Q3 Guidance, Launches $500M Buyback and Cuts Special-Meeting Threshold to 25%
MKSI sits 51% above its 52-week low of $134.74 on elevated volume (1.9× avg).
Summary
MKS beat the high end of Q3 guidance on revenue and EPS, guided Q4 to $1,490M revenue and $5.00 Non-GAAP EPS, authorized a new $500M buyback, and cut the shareholder special-meeting threshold from 40% to 25%.
Key Events · Earnings and Guidance · MKSI
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Q3 Beat Across Every Line
Record revenue of $1,413M, GAAP net income of $236M and diluted EPS of $3.26, with Non-GAAP EPS of $4.18 and Adjusted EBITDA of $434M — each above the high end of guidance. Semiconductor revenue grew 54% year-over-year to $638M.
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Q4 Guidance Points Higher
Guides Q4 revenue of $1,490M +/- $40M, GAAP diluted EPS of $4.04 +/- $0.38 and Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $5.00 +/- $0.38, with Adjusted EBITDA of $461M +/- $29M. Guidance excludes the pending Ophir Optics sale.
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New $500M Buyback Replaces 2011 Program
Board approved a $500M repurchase authorization effective November 2, 2026, replacing the July 2011 program of which roughly $28M remained. Repurchases may be made on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions and can be suspended at any time.
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Special-Meeting Threshold Cut to 25%
Third Amended and Restated By-Laws reduce the voting-stock percentage needed to call a special shareholder meeting from 40% to 25%, measured on a net long basis, with new ownership-evidence requirements.
Analysis · MKSI · Industrial Applications And Services
MKS delivered a clean beat across the board: record revenue of $1,413M, GAAP diluted EPS of $3.26 and Non-GAAP EPS of $4.18, all above the high end of guidance. Guidance for Q4 points to revenue of $1,490M +/- $40M and Non-GAAP EPS of $5.00 +/- $0.38, so the growth trend is intact rather than decelerating. The $500M buyback replaces a 2011 program with only about $28M left, a step-change in capital return that management explicitly ties to confidence in cash generation. The governance change is the sleeper: lowering the special-meeting call threshold from 40% to 25% on a net long basis makes it materially easier for shareholders to force a meeting, which matters more as the company carries $1.4B of convertible notes that are currently convertible and $1.3B of term loan principal. The dividend of $0.25 per share is unchanged in size but now formally declared with a December 7 payment date.
How filings like this one have moved
In the 30 days to Nov 4, 2026, 41.6% of the 1192 measured filings Wiseek scored 8 moved their stock by 5% or more by the next session's close. The median move was -0.37%. These are measured outcomes after filings of this importance, not a forecast for this one.
Measured one observation per ticker per day, after exclusions. Current figures: Filing Impact Tracker · open dataset
At the time of this filing, MKSI was trading at $202.88 on NASDAQ in the Industrial Applications And Services sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $13.2B. The 52-week trading range was $134.74 to $447.62. This filing was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 8 out of 10.