CTS Corporation
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
Whoever buys today bets that the acceleration continues: that medical and defense keep growing double digits, transportation stabilizes and the margin holds its new level — at 28.5 times trailing earnings near the all-time high. Whoever waits checks three things in the coming quarterly reports (10-Q): whether the transportation uptick from Q1 2026 (+2.9 percent) lasts, whether organic growth reaches double digits without currency tailwinds, and whether the SyQwest corrections truly end. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
CTS is a genuine straight-A student with one blind spot: record earnings, record margins, accelerating quarterly growth and a fortress balance sheet stand against a core market that has been shrinking for three years — and revenue that, despite everything, remains below its 2022 level. The new growth comes from medical and defense, partly bought and with bookkeeping that needed repair, while the market pays 28.5 times trailing earnings at the all-time high. Whoever invests here buys quality without a margin of safety. Not investment advice.
Profitability & balance sheet
Record net earnings of $65.3 million in 2025 (+17.7 percent), gross margin up from 36.4 to 38.4 percent (Q1 2026: 39.5 percent), $102.1 million operating cash flow, an equity ratio around 72 percent, Altman Z around 11, Piotroski 8 of 9 — the scanner's quality checkmarks are backed by the SEC filings (10-K 2025, 10-Q as of March 31, 2026).
Growth dynamics
Five quarters of accelerating growth up to +10.9 percent (Q1 2026), diversification markets up double digits in 2025 (medical +20.9, aerospace & defense +19.9, industrial +11.7 percent) — though with 2.3 percentage points of currency tailwind in the latest quarter and roughly 3.4 percent organic growth for full-year 2025.
Core market & customer concentration
Transportation — 43 percent of revenue — is shrinking for the third year in a row ($303.7 to $233.9 million since 2022), per the 10-K on commercial-vehicle weakness and its own customers' loss of market share in China; Toyota and Cummins account for almost a fifth of revenue without firm purchase volumes, and Cummins's share has nearly halved since 2022.
Acquisition & accounting
SyQwest ($128 million, July 2024) delivers the defense leg and $22.3 million of 2025 revenue — but the acquisition brought calculation errors in revenue and cost of goods sold, whose correction trimmed audited 2024 earnings by 4.5 percent; the error source still produced follow-up corrections in the fourth quarter of 2025 (10-K 2025, Note 1).
Valuation & technicals
A stage-2 trend, 12 scanner hits and a price about 2 percent below the all-time high meet 28.5 times trailing earnings and 3.4 times revenue (data as of July 10, 2026) — what is being paid for is a continuation of the acceleration, while total revenue still sits roughly 8 percent below 2022; the Superfund mediation ($6.6 million accrued) and the almost entirely offshore cash are footnotes, not roadblocks.
Worth Noting
CTS reached the research list through the momentum/stage-2 scanner run of July 17, 2026 (12 hits in our in-house stock scanner) — not through Reddit or headlines; attention outside the trend filters is practically absent.
Scanner metrics (P/E, P/S, Piotroski, Altman Z, fundamental grade) are computed on trailing twelve-month figures (data as of July 10, 2026); the SyQwest corrections to 2024 are baked in, a possible further defense-cycle push naturally is not.
Price and valuation figures dated July 10, 2026 (about $67, roughly $1.9 billion market value); analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument. CTS reports on a calendar-year basis (fiscal year ends December 31).
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at CTS since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 36.50 $ to 68.30 $ · Last price: 57.50 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Electronic Components
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTS Corporation CTS | 1.6 | 24.3 | 12.2 | 39.7 | 16.1 | 5.2 | 39.4 |
| Corning Incorporated GLW | 127.2 | 68.9 | 35.8 | 36.4 | 15.7 | 19.1 | 93.9 |
| Amphenol Corporation APH | 96.5 | 22.3 | 23.8 | 39.0 | 27.3 | 51.7 | 33.1 |
| TE Connectivity Ltd TEL | 59.8 | 20.2 | 13.2 | 36.1 | 20.8 | 7.9 | -3.5 |
| Flex Ltd FLEX | 41.0 | 41.3 | 20.9 | 9.5 | 5.7 | 8.1 | 93.1 |
| Jabil Circuit Inc JBL | 31.6 | 35.3 | 16.7 | 9.2 | 5.2 | 3.2 | 39.5 |
| Fabrinet FN | 14.4 | 30.6 | 20.6 | 12.0 | 9.9 | 18.6 | 6.3 |
| TTM Technologies Inc TTMI | 11.9 | 93.8 | 30.2 | 21.2 | 8.6 | 19.0 | 134.1 |
| Vicor Corporation VICR | 10.7 | 69.1 | 73.4 | 56.6 | 15.0 | 13.6 | 314.5 |
| Median of companies shown | 31.6 | 35.3 | 20.9 | 36.1 | 15.0 | 13.6 | 39.5 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 397 | 56 | 34 | 1.03 | 47 | 318 | 518 |
| 2017 | 423 | 44 | 14 | 0.43 | 58 | 344 | 538 |
| 2018 | 470 | 70 | 47 | 1.39 | 58 | 378 | 548 |
| 2019 | 469 | 60 | 36 | 1.09 | 64 | 405 | 643 |
| 2020 | 424 | 48 | 35 | 1.06 | 77 | 424 | 626 |
| 2021 | 513 | 77 | -42 | -1.30 | 86 | 464 | 664 |
| 2022 | 587 | 94 | 60 | 1.85 | 121 | 506 | 748 |
| 2023 | 550 | 75 | 61 | 1.92 | 89 | 527 | 741 |
| 2024 | 516 | 77 | 58 | 1.89 | 99 | 531 | 766 |
| 2025 | 542 | 85 | 65 | 2.19 | 102 | 552 | 764 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.38 | -22.40 | 127 | 2.10 | 10.70 | 26 | 20 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.44 | 22.90 | 126 | 0.10 | 10.60 | 16 | 11 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.62 | 29.10 | 136 | 4.20 | 13.70 | 28 | 25 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.46 | -24.50 | 143 | 8.20 | 9.60 | 29 | 24 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.67 | 76.30 | 138 | 8.10 | 14.30 | 29 | 26 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.59 | 34.50 | 140 | 10.90 | 12.30 | 17 | 12 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 11 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Growth
Quality & Balance Sheet
Breakout & Setup
Momentum & Trend
- 21-EMA Trend
- Above 21-EMA Pullback
- Above the 50- & 200-SMA
- Mark Minervini: Trend Criteria — 1 Month
- Mike Webster: Power Trend Leader
- Near 52-Week High
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 2
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 2.65 | 2.63 – 2.68 | 574 | 19.0% | 3 |
| 12/31/2027 | 2.87 | 2.80 – 2.96 | 608 | 8.0% | 3 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 6.3% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $91.4M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $1.64B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $167.8M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 53.8% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow grew by 6.9% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Geprüft am 17.07.2026 gegen den Geschäftsbericht (10-K) für 2025 (eingereicht 24.02.2026), den 10-K für 2024 (26.02.2025) und die vier jüngsten Quartalsberichte (10-Q): In den ausgewerteten SEC-Filings von CTS Corporation findet sich kein wesentlicher KI-Bezug. Die einzige Erwähnung ist ein generischer, in den 10-Ks 2024 und 2025 wortgleicher Risikofaktor über die mögliche Einführung von KI in interne Prozesse („As we integrate artificial intelligence technologies into our processes, these technologies may present business, compliance and reputational risks“ — übersetzt: „Während wir Technologien der künstlichen Intelligenz in unsere Prozesse integrieren, können diese Technologien geschäftliche, Compliance- und Reputationsrisiken mit sich bringen“) samt Wettbewerbs-Floskel („to the extent our competitors successfully adopt AI […] we may be at a competitive disadvantage“ — übersetzt: „soweit unsere Wettbewerber KI erfolgreich einführen […], könnten wir einen Wettbewerbsnachteil erleiden“). Weder eine KI-Umsatzquelle (Produkte sind Sensoren, Verbindungskomponenten und Aktoren) noch ein belegter operativer KI-Einsatz mit konkretem System noch ein konkretes KI-Geschäftsrisiko fürs eigene Modell; die vier 10-Qs enthalten keinerlei KI-Erwähnung. Nach dem Kriterienkatalog bleibt es bei „neutral“ (Boilerplate-Risikofloskeln begründen weder „nutzt“ noch „bedroht“).
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-04-29 · 10-Q 2025-10-28 · 10-Q 2025-07-24 · 10-Q 2025-04-30 · 10-K 2026-02-24 · 10-K 2025-02-26
Rated on July 17, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years -2.6%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 6.0%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -2.6%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 21.1%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 38.5%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 27.4%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 0.3 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 106 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 13.0%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 2.1%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
7/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 3.5%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 5.9%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% 4.8%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 14.4%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 0.5x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 10
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 31.5%
- Return on equity > 15% 34.6%
- ROCE > 15% 12.9%
- Expected return > 10% 20.4%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | Pacioni Mark R. | VP, Chief Legal/Admin. Officer | Other | 531 | 61.53 | 32,672 |
The company
About the Company
CTS Corporation entwirft, fertigt und verkauft Sensoren, Konnektivitätskomponenten und Aktuatoren in Nordamerika, Europa und Asien. Das Unternehmen bietet Steuerungen, Pedale, Sensoren, Schalter, Wandler und Piezo-Sensorprodukte; EMI/RFI-Filter, Kondensatoren, Widerstände, HF-Filter und Frequenz…
- Employees
- 3,492
- Headquarters
- Lisle, IL
- Address
- 4925 Indiana Avenue, 60532 Lisle, United States
- Phone
- 630 577 8800
- Website
- ctscorp.com
- IPO Date
- 11/05/1987
- ISIN
- US1265011056
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 08/13/1999
- Stock Split
- 959692:319897 on 11/25/1997
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Kieran M. O'Sullivan | Executive Chairman of the Board | 1962 |
| Pratik Trivedi | President, CEO & Director | 1979 |
| Ashish Agrawal | VP & CFO | 1971 |
| Mark R. Pacioni | VP, Chief Legal & Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary | 1966 |
| Mitchell J. Walorski | Director of Investor Relations | – |
| John M. Hawkins | Senior Vice President | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.