What does 'advanced node' mean for semiconductor materials companies?

Advanced nodes refer to the most cutting-edge chip manufacturing process generations — currently 3nm, 2nm, and angstrom-scale processes at TSMC, Samsung, and Intel. Each new node requires more process steps (a leading-edge chip may go through 1,000+ individual fabrication steps), tighter tolerances (demanding purer chemicals and more precise filtration), new materials (high-k dielectrics, EUV photoresists, new metals), and more complex etch and deposition chemistry. This means each new node requires more Entegris materials per wafer than the previous generation — advanced node adoption directly increases Entegris content per wafer, driving revenue growth independent of volume changes.

What is plasma power in semiconductor manufacturing?

Plasma is an ionized gas created by applying radio-frequency (RF) power to process gases — used in semiconductor fabrication for plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of films, plasma etch (removing material in precise patterns), and surface cleaning. Precise control of plasma parameters (power level, frequency, plasma density) determines the uniformity, selectivity, and profile of etching and deposition. MKS Instruments supplies RF power generators and impedance matching networks that deliver and control the plasma power in these process tools. The shift to advanced nodes with more complex etch and deposition requirements increases the precision demands on plasma power control.

What was the Atotech acquisition and how does it change MKS Instruments?

MKS Instruments acquired Atotech (a specialty plating chemicals and equipment company) in 2022 for approximately $2.5 billion. Atotech provides advanced surface finishing solutions — plating chemicals and equipment used in printed circuit board manufacturing, advanced packaging (connecting chips at the package level), and industrial applications. The acquisition expanded MKS beyond its semiconductor instrument focus into circuit board fabrication and chip packaging chemistry. While the deal broadens MKS's market exposure, it added significant debt and integrated a business with different customer relationships (PCB manufacturers rather than semiconductor fabs), increasing integration complexity.

Data as of: September 21, 2026

brimindinvest.com / compare / entg-vs-mksLIVE

ENTG

Entegris, Inc. · Technology - Semiconductor Materials

$142.25

-1.41% this month

VERSUS

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MKS

MKS Instruments, Inc. · Technology - Semiconductor Process Control

N/A

N/A this month

Comparison scoreboard

MIXED SETUP

AI Scorei

ENTG 64.2

MKS N/A

1Y Returni

ENTG +48.22%

MKS N/A

Fwd P/Ei

ENTG 26.19

MKS N/A

Target Up.i

ENTG +32.00%

MKS N/A

Op. Margini

ENTG 19.27%

MKS N/A

Metrics last refreshed: 9/21/2026

Quick take

ENTG vs MKS Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside

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ENTG (Entegris) and MKS (MKS Instruments) are both semiconductor materials and equipment companies serving chip fabrication — Entegris provides consumable specialty chemicals, filtration, and ultra-pure materials used in every wafer run, while MKS provides precision instruments and process control systems measuring and controlling gas, pressure, plasma, and flow parameters in the fab. Both benefit from advanced node complexity but have different business models (consumables vs. instruments) and acquisition-related debt challenges.

ENTG vs MKS is semiconductor consumables (Entegris's specialty chemicals and filtration materials used in every wafer start, recurring revenue) versus semiconductor process instruments (MKS Instruments' gas delivery, plasma control, and pressure measurement systems, durable installed base) — materials science versus measurement precision within the semiconductor supply chain.

Live analysis · updated 9/21/2026

ENTG and MKS are closely matched — they split the tracked metrics evenly.

Normalized 1Y performance

ENTG

MKS

Not enough data to chart yet.

Recent returns

ENTG

MKS

Analyst price targets & sentiment

Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.

ENTG

Price target range

analyst mean$173.36
current price$142.25

+32.0% upside to analyst mean

MKS

Price target data unavailable

N/A

Who should consider this stock?

ENTG may suit investors who:

Want exposure to semiconductor materials consumed in every wafer fabrication run — recurring consumable revenue that grows with wafer starts and advanced node adoption requiring more process steps
Value Entegris's high switching costs and long qualification cycles as a competitive moat — once qualified in a semiconductor fab process, Entegris materials are difficult to replace without disrupting yields
Believe the advanced node semiconductor roadmap (3nm, 2nm, angstrom-scale) will drive increased Entegris content per wafer as manufacturing complexity grows

MKS may suit investors who:

Want semiconductor process control exposure across gas delivery, plasma power, and pressure measurement — instruments with an installed base that generates recurring service and consumable revenue
Value MKS's diversification beyond pure semiconductor equipment into photonics, laser systems for electronics manufacturing, and industrial applications
Accept the integration risk and debt from the Atotech acquisition as an expansion into plating chemistry that broadens MKS beyond semiconductor fab instruments

Performance & AI score

Performance & AI score
Metric	ENTG	MKS
AI scorei	64.2	N/A
AI ranki	#87	N/A
Latest closei	$142.25	N/A
1M returni	-1.41%	N/A
6M returni	+22.78%	N/A
1Y returni	+48.22%	N/A

$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)

How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?

$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
Period	ENTG	MKS
1Y ago	$14.82K (+48.2%) started 2025-09-18	N/A
5Y ago	$11.05K (+10.5%) started 2021-09-20	N/A
10Y ago	$85.74K (+757.4%) started 2016-09-19	N/A

Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.

Valuation & upside potential

Valuation & upside potential
Metric	ENTG	MKS
Market capi	$20.07B	N/A
Trailing P/Ei	66.00	N/A
Forward P/Ei	26.19	N/A
Price/Salesi	N/A	N/A
EV/Revenuei	6.91	N/A
Analyst targeti	$173.36	N/A
Target upsidei	+32.00%	N/A

Growth, profitability & risk

Growth, profitability & risk
Metric	ENTG	MKS
Revenue growthi	11.50%	N/A
Earnings growthi	75.10%	N/A
EPS growthi	+75.10%	N/A
FCF margini	+14.36%	N/A
Operating margini	19.27%	N/A
Profit margini	9.19%	N/A
ROIC proxyi	7.67%	N/A
Return on equityi	7.67%	N/A
Dividend yieldi	0.31%	N/A
Payout ratioi	20.00%	N/A
Dividend growth streaki	N/A	N/A
Betai	1.35	N/A
Debt/equityi	85.66	N/A
Current ratioi	3.05	N/A
Quick ratioi	1.56	N/A

Drawdown & downside risk

Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.

1Y risk snapshot

ENTG max drawdowni41.84%

MKS max drawdowniN/A

ENTG max wkly dropi22.88%

MKS max wkly dropiN/A

5Y risk snapshot

ENTG max drawdowni59.48%

MKS max drawdowniN/A

ENTG max wkly dropi27.01%

MKS max wkly dropiN/A

10Y risk snapshot

ENTG max drawdowni59.48%

MKS max drawdowniN/A

ENTG max wkly dropi27.01%

MKS max wkly dropiN/A

Performance metrics by period

Performance metrics by period
Period	Metric	ENTG	MKS
1Y	Growthi	+48.22%	N/A
	CAGRi	+48.26%	N/A
	Volatilityi	68.46%	N/A
	Sharpe ratioi	0.85	N/A
	Sortino ratioi	1.27	N/A
	Max drawdowni	41.84%	N/A
	Current drawdowni	22.69%	N/A
	Avg drawdowni	12.42%	N/A
	Ulcer Indexi	15.62%	N/A
	Max daily dropi	11.24%	N/A
	Max wkly dropi	22.88%	N/A
5Y	Growthi	+10.48%	N/A
	CAGRi	+2.02%	N/A
	Volatilityi	55.17%	N/A
	Sharpe ratioi	0.23	N/A
	Sortino ratioi	0.33	N/A
	Max drawdowni	59.48%	N/A
	Current drawdowni	22.69%	N/A
	Avg drawdowni	30.82%	N/A
	Ulcer Indexi	34.14%	N/A
	Max daily dropi	20.97%	N/A
	Max wkly dropi	27.01%	N/A
10Y	Growthi	+757.44%	N/A
	CAGRi	+23.98%	N/A
	Volatilityi	47.48%	N/A
	Sharpe ratioi	0.60	N/A
	Sortino ratioi	0.87	N/A
	Max drawdowni	59.48%	N/A
	Current drawdowni	22.69%	N/A
	Avg drawdowni	19.08%	N/A
	Ulcer Indexi	25.31%	N/A
	Max daily dropi	20.97%	N/A
	Max wkly dropi	27.01%	N/A

AI Prediction Signali

Members only

Next 5 trading days

ENTG

+2.8%BUY

MKS

+1.1%HOLD

Next 30 trading days

ENTG

+6.4%BUY

MKS

+3.2%HOLD

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Business comparison

Business comparison
Category	ENTG	MKS
Company	Entegris, Inc.	MKS Instruments, Inc.
Sector	Technology	Technology - Semiconductor Process Control
Industry	Semiconductor Equipment & Materials	N/A
Core business	Entegris is a specialty materials and solutions company for the semiconductor industry — providing ultra-pure chemicals, advanced filtration systems, microcontamination control products, and materials handling solutions used in wafer fabrication. Entegris products control contamination at each step of the chip manufacturing process, where a single particle can ruin an entire wafer.	MKS Instruments provides instruments, subsystems, and process control solutions used in semiconductor manufacturing, electronics, and industrial applications — including gas delivery systems, plasma power sources, pressure measurement, flow control, photonics, and motion control. MKS products help fabs control process parameters with high precision.
Investor focus	Investors track Entegris's revenue tied to semiconductor wafer starts, advanced node adoption (more complex chips require more Entegris process steps), CMC Merger integration (Entegris acquired CMC Materials in 2022), margins, and free cash flow generation. Entegris benefits from chipmakers' shift to more advanced technology nodes.	Investors track MKS Instruments' revenue from semiconductor customers (typically 60-70% of revenue), electronics and industrial end markets, Atotech acquisition integration, and the company's expansion into laser and photonics applications for electronics manufacturing.

ENTG strengths

Critical consumable position — Entegris sells materials consumed in every wafer fabrication run, creating recurring revenue regardless of equipment replacement cycles
Advanced node tailwind — each new generation of chips (from 7nm to 3nm to 1nm) requires more process steps, more filtration, and more specialty chemicals, increasing Entegris content per wafer
High switching costs — semiconductor fabs qualify Entegris materials for specific processes through lengthy qualification periods; once qualified, switching suppliers disrupts yields and requires re-qualification

MKS strengths

Broad process control portfolio — MKS supplies gas delivery, plasma power, pressure, and flow measurement across multiple semiconductor process steps, creating diversified revenue within the fab
Photonics and laser business — MKS's Coherent/Newport division provides laser systems for semiconductor lithography, electronics manufacturing, and industrial applications
Electronics diversification beyond semiconductors — MKS serves advanced packaging, PCB manufacturing, and flat panel display markets that provide partial counter-cyclicality to pure semiconductor exposure

Risks to watch — ENTG

Wafer start volatility — Entegris revenue correlates with semiconductor fab utilization, which declined sharply in 2023 as chip inventory corrections reduced wafer starts
Significant debt from the 2022 CMC Materials acquisition ($6.5B) increased Entegris leverage and created integration complexity
Competition from Merck KGaA, Shin-Etsu Chemical, and other specialty chemical suppliers in specific process chemistries and materials categories

Risks to watch — MKS

Heavy debt load from Atotech acquisition (plating chemistry company acquired 2022) expanded MKS into a different end market with different competitive dynamics and integration risk
Semiconductor cycle sensitivity — MKS revenue declines during fab utilization downturns as customers defer maintenance and upgrade spending on instruments and systems
Competitive pressure from larger semiconductor equipment companies (Applied Materials, Lam Research) that offer integrated subsystems, potentially displacing specialized instrument suppliers like MKS

Frequently asked questions

Semiconductor manufacturing requires environments of extraordinary cleanliness — a single particle smaller than a human hair landing on a wafer during fabrication can ruin dozens of chips on that wafer. Microcontamination control involves filtering all process fluids (deionized water, process chemicals, gases) to remove particles down to nanometer scale, controlling chemical purity to parts-per-trillion levels, using materials that don't outgas contaminants, and designing containers that don't leach particles. As chip feature sizes shrink below 5nm, contamination tolerance becomes even stricter. Entegris's filtration systems, ultra-pure chemical delivery systems, and specialty materials containers are all designed around this contamination control imperative.

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