Knowles Corporation (KN) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
Knowles (NYSE: KN) is a specialty electronic components maker that has repositioned itself as a higher-margin supplier of capacitors, RF filters, and medtech audio parts for defense, medical, and industrial customers. Investing in KN is a bet on that pivot to reliable, high-value niche components rather than a play on commodity consumer audio.
KN stock price
As of 2026-07-16, Knowles Corporation (KN) last closed at $35.30, up 100.3% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $17.62 and $42.80.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Knowles Corporation's investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Knowles Corporation (KN) do?
Knowles Corporation designs and manufactures specialized electronic components that perform critical, hard-to-replicate functions in demanding devices. It operates in two segments: Precision Devices (PD), which makes high-performance capacitors and radio-frequency and microwave filters for defense, medtech, industrial, and electrification markets, and MedTech & Specialty Audio (MSA), which makes balanced armature speakers, hearing-aid microphones, and specialty audio parts. After selling its lower-margin consumer MEMS microphone business, Knowles now positions itself as a focused supplier of differentiated, high-reliability components rather than a volume consumer-electronics vendor.
The investment picture centers on that transformation. Full-year 2025 revenue reached about $593 million with adjusted EBIT of roughly $120 million, and Q1 2026 revenue grew about 16 percent year over year to roughly $153 million with both segments expanding. The bull case is a steadier, higher-margin business tied to defense and medical demand that generates consistent free cash flow used for buybacks and acquisitions. The bear case is that KN remains a small-cap industrial supplier exposed to cyclical end markets, customer concentration, and the execution risk of integrating deals, so its premium multiple leaves little room for a stumble.
What's driving Knowles Corporation (KN)?
1. Precision Devices growth
The Precision Devices segment, spanning high-performance capacitors and RF and microwave filters, grew roughly 17 percent year over year in Q1 2026 with strength across defense, medtech, industrial, and electrification. Management frames this as the core engine of the company, supported by long product cycles and demanding reliability requirements that limit competition.
2. Margin and mix improvement
Exiting commodity consumer MEMS microphones shifted the mix toward higher-margin specialty parts. MSA gross margins ran above 53 percent and Precision Devices near 39 percent in Q1 2026, helped by better factory utilization and favorable pricing. Continued mix improvement is central to the earnings story.
3. Defense and medtech demand
Knowles supplies components into defense systems and medical devices such as hearing aids, end markets that tend to be less cyclical than consumer electronics and carry longer design-in lives. Sustained government and healthcare spending underpins the demand backdrop management points to.
4. Cash generation and capital return
The company produced adjusted free cash flow of roughly $114 million in 2025 and has used cash for share repurchases and bolt-on acquisitions. Capital allocation toward buybacks and deals that extend the precision-devices franchise is a lever management has emphasized.
What are the risks to Knowles Corporation (KN)?
Knowles is a small-cap supplier exposed to cyclical industrial, electrification, and defense budget swings, and a slowdown in any large end market could pressure results. Customer and end-market concentration means a few large programs matter to the numbers. Acquisitions carry integration and valuation risk, and the shares trade at a premium that leaves limited margin for execution misses. Tariffs, supply-chain costs, and foreign-exchange movements can also weigh on margins given global manufacturing. Finally, competition from larger passive-component and audio suppliers could compress pricing over time.
How is Knowles Corporation (KN) valued? (approximate, July 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Knowles Corporation's investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (TTM): ~$610M
- FY2025 revenue: ~$593M
- Adjusted EBIT (FY2025): ~$120M
- Adjusted free cash flow (FY2025): ~$114M
- Market cap: ~$3.1B
- Share price: ~$35
Revenue grew about 7 percent in 2025 and accelerated to roughly 16 percent year over year in Q1 2026, with non-GAAP EPS up about 50 percent that quarter. The stock trades near the upper end of its 52-week range (about $17 to $43), so the market is pricing in continued margin and cash-flow improvement. These are approximate figures drawn from recent filings and financial data providers.
Who competes with Knowles Corporation (KN)?
Passive and RF components
Firms making capacitors, RF filters, and microwave components such as Vishay, KEMET (Yageo), API Technologies, and Qorvo compete for the demanding defense, medtech, and industrial designs Knowles targets in its Precision Devices segment.
MEMS and acoustic components
Microphone and acoustic-component suppliers including Goertek, AAC Technologies, TDK (InvenSense), and Infineon compete in MEMS and audio, an area Knowles has partly exited on the consumer side while keeping specialty and hearing-related audio.
Hearing and medical audio suppliers
In balanced armature speakers and hearing-aid components, Knowles competes with and supplies parts to hearing-device makers and specialized audio-component vendors serving the medtech market.
How to invest in Knowles Corporation (KN)
There are three common ways to get KN exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so KN sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where KN fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
The bottom line on Knowles Corporation (KN)
KN is a small-cap industrial component supplier whose value hinges on whether its precision-devices and medtech mix keeps compounding margins and free cash flow.
More on Knowles Corporation (KN)
Whether KN is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is KN a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the KN stock forecast.
For income investors, whether KN pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does KN pay a dividend?
Build a basket around KN with Walnut
Use Knowles Corporation as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What does Knowles Corporation do?
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Knowles designs and makes specialized electronic components, including high-performance capacitors, RF and microwave filters, balanced armature speakers, and hearing-aid microphones, for defense, medtech, industrial, and electrification customers.
What are Knowles's business segments?
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It reports two segments: Precision Devices (capacitors and RF filtering) and MedTech and Specialty Audio (balanced armature speakers, hearing microphones, and specialty audio). Precision Devices is the larger and faster-growing part of the business.
How big is Knowles?
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Knowles generated about $593 million in revenue in 2025 and carries a market capitalization of roughly $3 billion as of July 2026, making it a small-cap industrial component supplier.
Is Knowles profitable?
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Yes. The company reported adjusted EBIT of roughly $120 million and adjusted free cash flow of about $114 million in 2025, and it posted rising non-GAAP EPS in Q1 2026.
Did Knowles sell its microphone business?
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Knowles divested its lower-margin consumer MEMS microphone business to sharpen its focus on higher-margin precision devices and specialty audio. It retained specialty and hearing-related audio components.
What drives Knowles's revenue growth?
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Recent growth has come from Precision Devices, with demand across defense, medtech, industrial, and electrification, plus a mix shift toward higher-margin components that has lifted gross margins.
What are the main risks for KN stock?
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Key risks include cyclical end-market demand, customer and program concentration, acquisition integration, tariff and supply-chain costs, and a premium valuation that leaves little room for execution stumbles.
How can I invest in Knowles?
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KN trades on the NYSE, so shares can be bought through most brokerage accounts. Walnut is not an investment adviser, so review the company's filings and consider your own goals and risk tolerance before deciding.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Knowles Corporation's investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.