Podcast
Chip Stock Investor Podcast
Hosted by Nicholas Rossolillo; Kasey Rossolillo · EN
Semiconductors are the heart of the modern economy. These small devices that manipulate the flow of electricity run everything from our PCs and smartphones to our cars to manufacturing. The semiconductor industry is at an inflection point of renewed growth, powering new movements like generative AI and electric vehicles.
The Chip Stock Investor Podcast explores how semiconductors work, and especially the business of chips. Follow Nicholas and Kasey to learn how chip technology has become the engine of the world, and how to invest in its growth.
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Episodes
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AI Data Center Supply Chains & Indium Phosphide: A Look at Oxford Instruments
3d ago00:14:55Tap to summarizeIn this episode, CSI is cutting through the social media noise to bring you a vintage Chip Stock Investor breakdown of the semiconductor supply chain. Today, we are putting the spotlight on Oxford Instruments, a small-cap UK company that might be a critical bottleneck in the AI data center networking boom. We explore how the industry is scaling up production for compound semiconductors and specifically look at Coherent's breakthrough with six-inch indium phosphide (InP) wafers. From there, we map out the players making this transition possible and detail why Oxford Instruments' plasma deposition and etch systems are moving out of the R&D lab and onto the commercial manufacturing floor. Episode Chapters & Key Takeaways:The Indium Phosphide Breakthrough: The industry has long been stuck at two- to four-inch wafers due to manufacturing defects, but Coherent has successfully transitioned to six-inch InP wafers. Mapping the Supply Chain: A breakdown of the companies involved in this ecosystem, including Sumitomo Electric for substrates, KLA Corp and Onto Innovation for inspection, and Applied Materials for deposition. Oxford Instruments' Critical Role: Oxford Instruments supplies the plasma deposition and etch technology used by Coherent to create features like laser sources and waveguides. A Shift to Commercial Scale: Historically an R&D business spun out of Oxford University, the company is now seeing its advanced technologies group transition into early-stage commercial production. Strategic Divestitures: Oxford Instruments recently sold its quantum computing and cryogenics segment to Quantum Design to focus heavily on AI data centers and compound semiconductors. Financials & Valuation: Despite recent headwinds like tariffs and US R&D funding delays, the company holds a clean balance sheet and is expecting a return to growth in fiscal 2027. Special thanks to our sponsor, fiscal.ai! Get 15% off any paid plan using our special link: fiscal.ai/csi. Content in this video is for general information or entertainment only and is not specific or individual investment advice. Forecasts and information presented may not develop as predicted and there is no guarantee any strategies presented will be successful. All investing involves risk, and you could lose some or all of your principal.CSI doesn't own shares of Oxford Instruments.
Transcribe →SpaceX IPO, Orbital Data Centers & Investing in Quantum Computing | CSI with Simon Erickson of 7investing
4d ago00:31:54Tap to summarizeIn this episode of CSI Live, Nick sits down with Simon Erickson from 7investing to unpack the latest breakthroughs in high-tech infrastructure. The conversation kicks off with a look at the massive SpaceX IPO and the ambitious potential for building orbital data centers. From there, the discussion shifts to the primary focus: the rapidly evolving world of quantum computing. Simon breaks down how quantum mechanics could solve incredibly complex problems simultaneously, highlighting the projected $1.3 trillion to $2.7 trillion in economic value the industry could deliver by 2035. The episode covers specific pure-play quantum companies, including IonQ's commercial revenue lead and recent SkyWater acquisition, Infleqtion's neutral atom technology, and Quantinuum's full-stack approach under the Honeywell umbrella. Finally, they detail practical portfolio allocation strategies for early-stage tech and explore the looming national security concerns that could heavily regulate the sector. Check out Semi Insider at chipstockinvestor.comContent in this video is for general information or entertainment only and is not specific or individual investment advice. Forecasts and information presented may not develop as predicted and there is no guarantee any strategies presented will be successful. All investing involves risk, and you could lose some or all of your principal.CSI owns shares of Honeywell and Quantinuum.
Transcribe →Micron Passed 4 of 5 — Here's the One That Didn't
1w ago00:05:48Tap to summarizeMicron stock gets the full Chip Stock Investor checklist treatment in this Semi Insider Live session. We walk through revenue trends, operating margin, free cash flow, per-share profit growth, and balance sheet strength—then compare Micron's net-cash position to Broadcom's debt-heavy structure to show how to evaluate leverage using debt-to-equity and EBITDA-to-interest coverage ratios.This is Part 3 of our How CSI Invests series, where we break down the exact quantitative framework we use to vet semiconductor and tech stocks before they earn a spot in our portfolio. We also revisit why "we missed the takeoff" criticism misses the point of disciplined investing—and why Micron's revenue consistency is still an open question over a full cycle.Want the full investment thesis checklist, real-time portfolio access, and deeper coverage like this? Join Semi Insider at chipstockinvestor.com.
Transcribe →NextPower (NXT) Stock Analysis: Solar Tracking Expansion and Valuation Data
1w ago00:09:55Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Chip Stock Investor, Nick and Kasey analyze NextPower (formerly Nextracker), evaluating its transition from specialized solar tracking to broader power generation and distribution. The discussion breaks down NextPower's recent acquisitions in power converters, battery electric storage systems (BESS), and industrial maintenance robotics. We also examine the macro environment impacting the solar market, including international competition from Chinese firms like Architec and Trina Solar, as well as domestic policy deadlines approaching on July 4, 2026. Key Topics Covered:Business Evolution: NextPower's growth from a Flex spin-off into an integrated solar technology provider facing patent litigation with GameChange Solar. Financial Outlook: An analysis of the fiscal year 2027 revenue guidance of $3.8 billion to $4 billion, and why profitability may see a near-term dip during this investment year. Data-Driven Valuation: A walkthrough of NextPower using the Reverse DCF Calculator, demonstrating a discounted fair value of approximately $80, compared to its current trading price near $120. Sector Alternatives: Why Amphenol remains our preferred choice for broad exposure to solar tracking hardware, power conversion, and battery assemblies. New Feature AnnouncementThis episode demonstrates the newly implemented price alert functionality on the Reverse DCF Calculator. Available on the Semi Insider research dashboard, this tool allows you to build a margin of safety and receive automated alerts driven by fundamental data, not chart drawing. For data-driven research, weekly blog articles, our free weekly newsletter, and full access to the Semi Insider toolset, visit chipstockinvestor.com.
Transcribe →Figma Q1 Earnings: Revenue Soars 46%, Stock Still Pricey
2w ago00:12:08Tap to summarizeFigma's Q1 2026 revenue grew 46% YoY to $333M, with net dollar retention hitting a multi-year high of 139%. But even after its post-IPO slide, the stock still trades at ~75x next-12-month free cash flow. We break down what's driving the valuation gap, why free cash flow per share is still feeling IPO dilution effects, and what Figma needs to prove on profitability as AI disruption looms over creative software.Topics covered:Why Figma's valuation is still rich despite the stock's declineFigma vs. Adobe, Microsoft, Wix, and the private design-tool fieldAI's disruption risk to creative/design softwareQ1 2026 results: $333M revenue, 139% net dollar retention, $89M free cash flow (27% margin)Free cash flow per share and the impact of IPO-related dilution$1.6B cash, no debt, and why M&A could be on the tableThe $116M RSU tax settlement behind the cash balance dipQ2 and full-year 2026 guidance (40% and 35% YoY growth)This episode is sponsored by fiscal.ai — get 15% off any paid plan at fiscal.ai/csi.Liked this breakdown? Head to chipstockinvestor.com for our full library of semiconductor and tech stock research, deep dives, and analysis — plus access to Semi Insider, our premium subscription for investors who want the data behind every call we make.
Transcribe →Cyclical vs. Non-Cyclical Stocks Explained: The CSI Investment Framework
2w ago00:21:39Tap to summarizeIs memory truly cyclical, or has the AI data center boom changed the rules? In Part 2 of the How CSI Invests series, Nick and Kasey tackle one of the most debated questions among semiconductor investors by walking through the investment thesis checklist step that asks: what kind of business cycle does this company actually have?Rather than labeling companies simply cyclical or non-cyclical, the framework breaks businesses into short cycle, long cycle, and non-cyclical categories based on how closely revenue tracks changes in GDP growth. A short cycle business sees revenue move quickly with the economy, while a long cycle or non-cyclical business continues growing steadily regardless of macro conditions. The traditional eleven sectors of the economy do not map cleanly onto this framework, and Nick and Kasey explain why semiconductors, SaaS, telecom carriers, and ad-driven internet platforms can all fall in very different places even within the same official sector.The episode applies this framework to six real companies. Micron is examined as a short cycle business currently in year two of a strong memory upcycle, with historical precedent for these cycles to run several years. Intuitive Surgical is discussed as a long cycle healthcare hardware business tied to product generation launches. Vertex Pharmaceuticals is presented as a genuinely non-cyclical pharmaceutical company with steady growth. NextEra Energy represents the utilities sector and one of the longest cycles of all. Credo Technologies, a newer public company, is evaluated as likely short cycle, with a look at its fiscal 2027 guidance calling for eighty percent revenue growth and fifty percent adjusted profit margins. Finally, Palo Alto Networks is broken down as a cyclical business once acquisitions like CyberArk and Chronosphere are stripped out, with commentary on CEO Nikesh Arora's view that cybersecurity is constantly chasing the next emerging risk.The episode closes with the revenue analysis questions CSI uses for every company: who the primary customers are, whether revenue is concentrated, what is actually being monetized, why customers choose to spend money with that company over alternatives, and what risks could disrupt the business. Understanding these fundamentals is what allows an investor to tune out noisy debates about whether a cycle has "changed forever" and instead build real conviction in a business.For in-depth stock research and the Semiconductor Insider membership,visit chipstockinvestor.com.
Transcribe →Why Flex Ltd. Just Surged 80% — And What Happens When the Spinoff Closes
2w ago00:17:35Tap to summarizeFlex Ltd., ticker FLEX, surged roughly eighty percent in a single month — and the company hasn't even completed the spinoff that sparked it. Nick and Kasey cover this electronics manufacturing services giant for the first time at Chip Stock Investor, breaking down what drove the run-up, what the proposed spinoff actually is, and whether there is anything left for long-term fundamental investors at today's valuation.Flex is one of the world's largest electronics manufacturing services companies, competing with Foxconn, Jabil, Celestica, and Sanmina across a global footprint spanning over ninety locations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. Unlike the perception that contract manufacturing means cheap labor in Asia, Flex's business increasingly runs on automation and robotics — a structural shift that is compressing cost parity across geographies and driving genuine margin improvement. The spinoff is the centerpiece of this episode. Flex is separating its Cloud and Power Infrastructure segment — referred to as SpinCo in the materials — into a standalone company expected to begin trading by the first quarter of calendar year 2027. This segment posted thirty-eight percent year-over-year revenue growth in fiscal year 2026, with guidance pointing to sixty-five to seventy-five percent growth in fiscal 2027 and over eighty percent in fiscal 2028. The business covers critical power products for utility companies, embedded power systems inside data center servers and racks, thermal management solutions that compete in the same market as Vertiv, and cloud power infrastructure for hyperscalers and neo clouds. SpinCo also carries nearly ten percent adjusted operating margins — roughly double the margin profile of the remaining Flex business.What stays with Flex after the split is the larger but slower-growing core: twenty-one billion in revenue across Regulated Manufacturing Solutions, covering healthcare and automotive, and Integrated Technology Solutions serving customers like Cisco, Juniper Networks, now part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Teradyne. Growth there is expected in the low to mid-single digits. Margins are trending in the right direction, but this is not a high-margin business.Nick and Kasey also zoom out on the broader industrial conglomerate breakup theme reshaping the market — from GE Vernova to Honeywell — and how Flex's spinoff fits squarely into that playbook. The prior Flex spinoff, NextPower in 2024, has performed very well for shareholders and gives the SpinCo story some historical credibility. The balance sheet is in reasonable shape for a manufacturer, with enough cash on hand to support bolt-on acquisitions as SpinCo looks to consolidate market share.The valuation discussion is honest: at roughly sixty to seventy times current earnings, this is a momentum trade. The forward picture for fiscal 2028 could look closer to thirty times earnings if growth delivers, but the stock is not cheap by traditional measures.For in-depth stock research and the Semiconductor Insider membership, visit chipstockinvestor.com. Use fiscal.ai/csi for 15% off any paid plan.
Transcribe →Coherent (COHR): NVIDIA's $2B Bet on Optical Networking's Moment
3w ago00:11:26Tap to summarizeOptical networking has spent years as a niche corner of the semiconductor industry. CSI makes the case that the moment for companies like Coherent may have finally arrived — and NVIDIA's two-billion-dollar equity investment in the company suggests the largest chipmaker in the world agrees.Coherent (COHR), is an integrated device manufacturer and base materials supplier specializing in indium phosphide and silicon carbide wafers. Under CEO Jim Anderson, who pulled off a similar business transformation at Lattice Semiconductor, Coherent has been shedding non-core assets and sharpening its focus on data center and communications, which now represents seventy-five percent of revenue and posted forty-one percent year-over-year growth in the most recent quarter. Pro forma revenue growth came in at twenty-seven percent, with gross margins approaching the forty percent threshold that marks a key milestone for IDM-class businesses.The divestitures tell the story of the transformation: a four-hundred-million-dollar sale of the aerospace and defense laser business to private equity, and a fifty-one-million-dollar exit from a materials processing tools segment that was diluting margins. What remains is a tighter, faster-growing business positioned at the intersection of AI data center infrastructure, optical connectivity, and advanced materials.The NVIDIA investment is the centerpiece of this episode. With free cash flow running deeply negative as Coherent scales manufacturing capacity for co-packaged optics and near-package optics expected in the second half of 2026, the company needed capital. NVIDIA needed the optical components. The result was a cash-for-equity arrangement that Nick describes as a more direct version of the warrant-based incentive deals seen at companies like AMD and STMicro, cheaper than diluting shareholders, and cheaper than going to a bank.The silicon carbide segment also draws attention, with five-hundred-million-dollar anchor investments from Denso and Mitsubishi Electric secured when silicon carbide was out of favor, now pointing toward three-hundred-millimeter wafer applications for AI data centers and power grid infrastructure.Q3 guidance calls for revenue between 1.9 and just over 2 billion, gross margin at roughly 41%, and continued negative free cash flow as manufacturing scale-up accelerates. CSI compares Coherent to peer Lumentum — framing COHR as the value play and Lumentum as the momentum play — and confirm they are happy holding both.For in-depth stock research and the Semiconductor Insider membership,visit chipstockinvestor.com. Use fiscal.ai/csi for 15% off any paid plan.
Transcribe →Broadcom Q2 FY2026: Why a Blowout Report Still Sent the Stock Down 10%
3w ago00:11:39Tap to summarizeBroadcom just delivered another strong earnings report for Q2 fiscal 2026, and the stock fell more than ten percent. CSI breaks down exactly why that happened, what it means for long-term holders, and whether anything has actually changed in the fundamental thesis for one of the most important companies in AI infrastructure.Broadcom has compounded its enterprise value at over fifty percent annually for five years. AI semiconductors now represent roughly three-quarters of the semiconductor solutions segment, which itself makes up the majority of nearly forty-eight billion in trailing twelve-month revenue. Free cash flow hit a record dollar amount this quarter at a forty-six percent margin, still climbing toward its near-fifty percent record high.So why did the stock sell off? The short answer is that Wall Street wanted a raise in 2027 guidance, specifically whether Broadcom's forecast of over one hundred billion in AI semiconductor revenue for fiscal 2027 would be revised higher toward two hundred billion. CEO Hock Tan declined to update that number, and without a concrete revision, earnings expectations stayed flat.Infrastructure software, the VMware segment, is now a cash cow with sub-ten percent growth. The growth engine going forward is AI semiconductors and networking. Chip Stock Investor's position is unchanged, continuing to hold Broadcom as a core AI data center infrastructure name.For in-depth stock research and the Semiconductor Insider membership, visit chipstockinvestor.com. Use fiscal.ai/csi for 15% off any paid plan.
Transcribe →OUST Q1 2026: 49% Growth + Color LiDAR Could Reshape Physical AI Sensors
3w ago00:11:12Tap to summarizeOuster ($OUST) just reported $49M in Q1 2026 revenue — up 49% year-over-year — and crossed the 40% gross margin threshold as it shifts toward a fabless model. But the bigger story is product: the new REV8 LiDAR family and L4 Max chip now integrate native color sensing directly into the sensor, developed in partnership with Fujifilm.In this episode, Nick breaks down what that means for physical AI — autonomous vehicles, robotics, and industrial automation — where today's systems rely on costly, complex sensor fusion setups combining LiDAR with CMOS image sensors. Color LiDAR could simplify that stack significantly.We also cover Q2 2026 guidance, the path toward breakeven, and why OUST remains a small bet in the Semi Insider portfolio — not a full position. This is still a prove-it story: the company operates at a loss and continues issuing shares to fund operations.Topics covered:REV8 family and L4 Max chip breakdownHow color LiDAR changes the physical AI sensor stackWhy OUST is sized as a small bet and what would change thatQ2 2026 guidance and the road to profitabilityFor deeper research and portfolio updates, visit us at chipstockinvestor.com.Chip Stock Investor covers semiconductor stocks and the chips powering AI, autonomy, and the physical world. Subscribe for weekly analysis and research updates.This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.
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