KNKnowles Corp

Household Audio & Video Equipment

Revenue: $593M; 7.2% YoY
Operating margin: 11.9%; 27% YoY
EBITDA: $107M; 4.4% YoY
Market cap: $2.8B
Employees: 5,200; $114K revenue each
Net debt / EBITDA: 0.7×; $69M net debt
AI in 10-K: 1.1; mentions per 10K words

Takeover score 3 of 13

Fixable underperformance 0 of 7

TSR below peersNo
—
3+ of last 5 years
High CEO pay despite TSRNo
—
Median CEO pay ≥ $15M while TSR trails
Earnings not backed by cashNo
—
Cash flow under 80% of net income
Dilutive SBCNo
5% of revenue
Over 10% of revenue
Payouts exceed cash flowNo
—
Buybacks + dividends over cash flow
Goodwill-heavyNo
25% of assets
Over 40% of assets
Shareholder dissentNo
96% lowest support
Any vote under 80% support

Buyer economics 2 of 4

Low revenue per employeeYes
$114K · 4th pct
Bottom quartile of its SIC industry
Quiet on AINo
1.1 per 10K words · 36th pct
Bottom quartile of AI mentions in 10-Ks
Net cashNo
0.7× EBITDA net debt
More cash than debt, positive EBITDA
Buyout-sizedYes
$2.8B market cap
Market cap $500M–$5B

Catalysts 1 of 2

Active 13DNo
0 filings
Active-intent 13D in 18 months
Net insider sellingYes
−$26M net
Net sales over $10M in 12 months

Financials

Metric	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	YoY	Trend
Revenue	$868M	$479M	$457M	$554M	$593M	7.2%
Operating income	$116M	$91M	$43M	$52M	$70M	36%
Net income	$150M	−$430M	$72M	−$238M	$44M	119%
Capex	$49M	$32M	$17M	$14M	$32M	136%
Stock-based comp	$32M	$29M	$29M	$23M	$28M	25%
Buybacks	$45M	$44M	$48M	$54M	$65M	21%

Deal filings

None.

13D filers

Filed	Filer	Form	Stake	Intent
Sep 30, 2019	Caligan Partners LP	SC 13D/A	4.9%	Active
May 9, 2019	Caligan Partners LP	SC 13D/A	7.3%	Active
Mar 11, 2019	Caligan Partners LP	SC 13D	6.7%	Active

Insider trading

Open-market buys, 12 mo: $0 · 0
Open-market sells, 12 mo: $26M · 40
Net: −$26M

Pay vs performance

No pay-versus-performance disclosure yet.