Materion Corp.

Materion gets 57% of sales overseas, yet the 18-month target is just $138, or 10% above $125.99.

If you own Materion, you own a niche materials supplier with decent margins and a stock that already prices in plenty.

mtrn

technology · semiconductors mid cap updated dec 26, 2025
$125.99
market cap ~$3B · 52-week range $69–$135
xvary composite: 58 / 100 · below average
our overall rating — combines growth, value, risk, and momentum
Start here if you're new
what it is
Materion makes specialty metals, ceramics, and optics that end up inside chips, aircraft parts, and industrial hardware.
how it gets paid
Last year Materion made $1.8B in revenue. Performance Materials was the main engine at $0.90B, or 50% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 6.0% last year. The last reported quarter showed revenue up 192% vs. prior year and EPS of $3.27.
what just happened
Revenue hit $1.3B, but the most recent earnings release still missed estimates on EPS.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
70/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
22.9x trailing p/e — priced about right
0.5% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
9.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 58/100 — below average
What they do
Materion makes specialty metals, ceramics, and optics that end up inside chips, aircraft parts, and industrial hardware.
This is a weird little kingdom. Materion sells the metals and ceramics your chip tools, defense parts, and industrial systems quietly depend on, and 57% of sales come from outside the U.S. That reach matters because engineered materials is switching costs → changing suppliers is painful and risky → your customer would rather pay up than requalify a critical part.
semiconductors mid-cap materials industrial-tech global-sales
How they make money
$1.8B annual revenue · their business grew +6.0% last year
Performance Materials
$0.90B
n/a
Electronic Materials
$0.79B
n/a
Precision Optics
$0.11B
n/a
Other
$0.00B
0.0%
The products that matter
engineered metals and materials
Engineered Materials
$1.8B revenue · +37.8% growth
this is the whole reported business on the snapshot. it produced $1.8B in revenue last year, but only a 7.3% net margin — so volume growth matters a lot.
entire business
Key numbers
22.9x
trailing p/e
P/E → price-to-earnings ratio → how many dollars you pay for each dollar of profit. At 22.9x, you are not buying this cheaply for a company with 3.0% projected sales growth.
14.5%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit left after running the business → what the core machine keeps. A 14.5% margin says this niche is better than commodity materials.
57%
foreign sales
Foreign sales → revenue from outside the U.S. → how global the customer base is. More than half overseas gives you diversification and more things to worry about.
$447M
long-term debt
Long-term debt → money owed beyond one year → how much balance-sheet weight you carry. At 15% of capital, this is manageable, not invisible.
Financial health
B+
strength
  • balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
  • risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
  • price stability 45 / 100
  • long-term debt $447M (15% of capital)
  • net profit margin 7.7% — keeps 8 cents of every dollar in revenue
  • return on equity 10% — $0.10 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market

You invested $10,000 in MTRN 3 years ago → it's now worth $15,220.

The index would have given you $13,920.

same period. same starting point. MTRN beat the market by $1,300.

source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
Revenue hit $1.3B, but the most recent earnings release still missed estimates on EPS.
The last reported quarter showed revenue up 192% vs. prior year and EPS of $3.27, but the latest earnings result also came in at $1.53 versus a $1.59 estimate, a 3.77% miss. Management said margins held up even with weaker shipments in Performance Materials.
$450M
revenue
$3.27
eps
18.9%
gross margin
the number that mattered
Gross margin was 18.9%, which matters because this stock needs margin durability more than headline revenue noise.
source: company earnings report, 2026

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What could go wrong

the top threat is a semiconductor and defense order slowdown hitting a 7.3% margin materials business.

∘
med
end-market demand slows
Semiconductors, defense, aerospace, and energy are the story. If those customers cut orders, the whole $1.8B business feels it because this snapshot shows no separate profit engine to hide in.
impact: 100% of reported revenue sits inside the same specialty-materials model.
∘
med
margin gives you limited cushion
Lower-than-expected shipments already showed up in recent commentary. When volume softens, fixed costs do not disappear, and a 7.3% net margin can compress quickly.
impact: small operating misses matter more when you only keep a little over 7 cents per revenue dollar.
∘
med
valuation has less room for disappointment than it looks
A 22.9x trailing p/e is manageable if growth continues. It is less forgiving when return on capital is 9.5% and the balance sheet carries $447M of long-term debt.
impact: if revenue misses the $2B estimate while returns stay under 10%, the stock starts looking fully priced.
combined, these risks expose all $1.8B of revenue to cyclical demand while leaving only a 7.3% net-margin cushion.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
the next revenue checkpoint
Watch whether the next quarter keeps Materion on pace for the $2B FY2026 revenue estimate and builds on the latest $1.22 EPS print.
metric
net margin versus 7.3%
Growth is nice. Margin is the proof. If the company cannot hold or expand a 7.3% net margin, the valuation story gets thinner fast.
trend
order rates in semis and defense
Management already flagged improving orders in semiconductors, defense, space, and energy. You want that trend to show up in shipments next.
risk
whether institutional support holds
Net buying lasted three straight quarters. If that flips while operating momentum cools, you lose both the fundamental and sentiment tailwind.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, analysts do not see a strong near-term edge either way.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — typical risk for a mid-cap cyclical name, neither especially safe nor especially fragile.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3 — the chart is not screaming trend change. It is behaving like the broader market.
earnings predictability
70 / 100
better than a chaotic small-cap, worse than a pure recurring-revenue business. Expect some cycle noise.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity

institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 171 buyers vs. 119 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 20.0M shares. net buying for 3 quarters.

source: institutional data · 1q2025-3q2025
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$91 $185
$126 current price
$138 target midpoint · +10% from current · 3-5yr high: $180 (+45% · 10% ann'l return)
source: institutional data · analyst targets

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