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Comet Holding AG
Comet makes X-ray, radio-frequency power, and electron-beam systems and components that industrial manufacturers use to inspect products and run demanding production processes.
Comet makes the invisible tools that factories use to see inside things and to power tough manufacturing steps. Its X-ray systems check products for hidden flaws, its radio-frequency power units drive industrial processes like semiconductor manufacturing, and its electron-beam gear is used in specialized production and inspection. The customers are industrial manufacturers—semiconductor makers, electronics producers, aerospace and auto suppliers—who pay for precision and reliability because a hidden defect or an unstable process can cost far more than the equipment itself.
The business is split into two main parts. Comet's X-ray systems business sells inspection machines and services, mostly under the Yxlon brand, which is the part most people picture: a machine that looks inside a part and finds cracks, voids, or bad solder joints without destroying it. The other part, its plasma control business under the Comet brand, sells radio-frequency power generators and matching networks—the electronics that feed energy into plasma chambers and similar industrial processes. That second piece leans heavily on the semiconductor industry, so demand rises and falls with chipmakers' spending on new factories and equipment. That chip exposure is the key to understanding the stock. When chipmakers like TSMC and Samsung are building fabs and ordering tools, Comet's plasma control business hums; when they pause, orders dry up fast. The X-ray side is steadier, tied to quality control across electronics, batteries, and aerospace, and it grows as products get more complex and manufacturers need to catch defects earlier. Comet competes with larger inspection players and niche RF specialists, and its edge comes from deep engineering know-how and long relationships—once a factory builds a process around your generator or inspection recipe, switching is painful.
Comet is headquartered in Switzerland and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. It spends heavily on research and development to stay ahead, and its fortunes swing with the semiconductor cycle—a fact investors should weigh before treating it as a sleepy industrial. It is, in short, a picks-and-shovels supplier to factories that need to see the unseen and control the uncontrollable.
Saved answer · last researched 14 Nov 2026