Semiconductors are the core infrastructure powering the Information Age. Compute-intensive AI workloads are also priming them for the next wave of secular growth, so it’s no wonder the industry has outperformed the market over the past six months, delivering returns of 48.9% compared to 10% for the S&P 500.

Nevertheless, a cautious approach is imperative because Moore’s Law (a principle stating that computer productivity doubles every two years) will eventually make even the most impactful technologies today obsolete. Taking that into account, here is one semiconductor stock poised to generate sustainable market-beating returns and two we’re steering clear of.

Two Semiconductor Stocks to Sell:

Qorvo (QRVO)

Market Cap: $7.40 billion

Formed by the merger of TriQuint and RF Micro Devices, Qorvo (NASDAQ: QRVO) is a designer and manufacturer of RF chips used in almost all smartphones globally, along with a variety of chips used in networking equipment and infrastructure.

Why Should You Sell QRVO?

1. Sales were flat over the last five years, indicating it’s failed to expand this cycle
2. Estimated sales growth of 2.9% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its two-year trend
3. Expenses have increased as a percentage of revenue over the last five years as its operating margin fell by 20.3 percentage points

Qorvo is trading at $80 per share, or 12.5x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with QRVO, check out our full research report (it’s free).

Texas Instruments (TXN)

Market Cap: $174.1 billion

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas since the 1950s, Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN) is the world’s largest producer of analog semiconductors.

Why Does TXN Worry Us?

1. Annual sales declines of 2.4% for the past two years show its products and services struggled to connect with the market during this cycle
2. Efficiency has decreased over the last five years as its operating margin fell by 13.5 percentage points
3. Capital intensity has ramped up over the last five years as its free cash flow margin decreased by 28.5 percentage points

Texas Instruments’s stock price of $191.52 implies a valuation ratio of 33.1x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why TXN doesn’t pass our bar.

One Semiconductor Stock to Watch:

Impinj (PI)

Market Cap: $4.88 billion

Founded by Caltech professor Carver Mead and one of his students Chris Diorio, Impinj (NASDAQ: PI) is a maker of radio-frequency identification (RFID) hardware and software.

Why Is PI Interesting?

1. Annual revenue growth of 20.2% over the last five years was superb and indicates its market share increased during this cycle
2. Performance over the past five years shows its incremental sales were extremely profitable, as its annual earnings per share growth of 49.4% outpaced its revenue gains
3. Free cash flow margin jumped by 15.8 percentage points over the last five years, giving the company more resources to pursue growth initiatives, repurchase shares, or pay dividends

At $165 per share, Impinj trades at 61.9x forward P/E. Is now a good time to buy? See for yourself in our comprehensive research report, it’s free.

Stocks We Like Even More

Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in our Top 6 Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).

Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.