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what it is
Benchmark builds and assembles complex electronics for other companies in medical, industrial, aerospace, and chip equipment markets.
how it gets paid
Last year Benchmark Elec made $2.7B in revenue. advanced computing & communications was the main engine at $0.95B, or 35% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 0.4% last year. The quarter showed better top-line volume and steadier profitability than the annual picture.
what just happened
Revenue hit $2.0B, while EPS rose to $0.52 and gross margin held at 9.7%.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
60/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
33.7x trailing p/e — you're paying up for this one
1.3% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
2.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 57/100 — below average
What they do
Benchmark builds and assembles complex electronics for other companies in medical, industrial, aerospace, and chip equipment markets.
The moat is breadth, not glamour. Benchmark has 11,840 employees and covers design, machining, assembly, and fulfillment, so your customer can hand one vendor the messy middle. That helps keep business sticky, but the numbers stay honest: on $2.7B of annual revenue, operating margin was 5.7%, so scale keeps you in the room more than it prints cash.
How they make money
$2.7B
annual revenue · their business grew -0.4% last year
advanced computing & communications
$0.95B
industrial
$0.60B
semiconductor capital equipment
$0.48B
medical
$0.40B
aerospace & defense
$0.27B
The products that matter
product design and engineering
Engineering design services
part of $2.7B revenue
This sits inside the $2.7B revenue base and is the part of the story that can lift margins above 5.7%. The exact contribution is not disclosed on this page, so you should treat it as a quality lever, not a quantified growth engine.
margin lever
sourcing and manufacturing execution
Global supply chain services
supports $2.7B scale
The company explicitly leans on an optimized global supply chain, and it has to. When return on capital is only 2.5%, small procurement and utilization gains can matter more than headline growth.
execution story
customer end-market exposure
Communications programs
mix not disclosed
Communications appears as a named business exposure, but this snapshot does not show the revenue split. That means you are underwriting a $2.7B portfolio of programs without clean segment visibility.
data thin
Key numbers
2.5%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit earned on the money tied up in the business → so what: Benchmark gets just 2.5 cents of operating profit for every dollar invested, which is thin for a stock at 33.7x earnings.
5.7%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after running the business → so what: Benchmark keeps $5.70 from every $100 of sales before interest and taxes, which leaves little room for bad quarters.
$306M
long-term debt
Long-term debt → money owed beyond one year → so what: debt is 14% of capital, so the balance sheet is not the main problem; the low returns are.
33.7x
trailing p/e
P/E → price compared with last year's earnings → so what: you are paying 33.7 times profits for a manufacturer whose earnings fell from $1.91 in 2022 to $1.72 in 2024.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 60 / 100
- long-term debt $306M (14% of capital)
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for BHE right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
beat estimates
Revenue hit $2.0B, while EPS rose to $0.52 and gross margin held at 9.7%.
The quarter showed better top-line volume and steadier profitability than the annual picture. That matters because full-year revenue was still $2.7B, down 0.4% vs. prior year.
$2.0B
revenue
$0.52
eps
9.7%
gross margin
the number that mattered
$2.0B of quarterly revenue matters most because scale is Benchmark's whole model, and thin margins need volume to work.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is thin-margin contract manufacturing.
med
Thin-margin execution risk
Benchmark produced $2.7B in revenue last year, but operating margin was only 5.7% and return on capital was 2.5%.
That means a small miss on pricing, utilization, or costs can do outsized damage to earnings even if revenue barely moves.
med
Revenue rebound may already be priced in
Revenue slipped 0.4% last year, but the current estimate calls for $3B next year versus $2.7B last year.
If that rebound slips, a 33.7x trailing multiple has less room to hide. You are paying today for a better print tomorrow.
med
Compliance and contract exposure
Recent source text explicitly flagged regulatory, compliance, and litigation risk, with government contracts mentioned in the related watch item.
The revenue exposure is not quantified in this snapshot, but low-margin businesses feel these issues fast because there is less profit cushion to absorb them.
The combined picture is simple: a $2.7B revenue base can still produce fragile economics when operating margin is 5.7% and return on capital is 2.5%.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
the next print needs to prove the rebound
The key number is whether revenue can move meaningfully toward the $3B estimate after a 0.4% decline last year.
margin
operating margin above 5.7%
This is the number that matters most. In a contract manufacturing business, small margin changes can matter more than top-line noise.
trend
whether flat sales turn into actual growth
The stock sits near the top of its 52-week range. That usually means investors expect better numbers from here.
risk
regulatory and government-contract friction
The current source set flags regulatory, compliance, and litigation issues. If those become operational instead of theoretical, thin margins get thinner.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
60 / 100
In human-speak, analysts think the numbers are somewhat readable, but this is not the kind of business that glides through rough patches.
risk rank
3
That puts BHE around the middle of the pack on safety. Not fragile, not a bunker.
price stability
60 / 100
The stock is fairly stable by small-cap standards, but stability is not the same thing as upside.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for BHE is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$58
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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