MaxLinear (NASDAQ:MXL) Stock Price Up 10.4% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Shares of MaxLinear jumped 10.4% to $25.78 on Friday (intraday high $25.66) on about 1.22 million shares traded, roughly 7% above average volume.
• The company beat the quarter (EPS $0.19 vs. $0.18; revenue $136.4M, +48% YoY) but remains unprofitable with a negative net margin (-29.23%) and sell-side estimates forecasting -0.37 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Despite the rally, consensus is a Hold with an average target of $19.57, though analyst views are mixed (Benchmark at $28 Buy, Wells Fargo $20 Equal Weight, Weiss a Sell).

MaxLinear, Inc (NASDAQ:MXL - Get Free Report) rose 10.4% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $25.66 and last traded at $25.78. Approximately 1,223,130 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 7% from the average daily volume of 1,138,617 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MXL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MaxLinear in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MaxLinear from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of MaxLinear from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.57.

MaxLinear Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company's 50 day moving average price is $18.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.63 and a beta of 1.70.

MaxLinear (NASDAQ:MXL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. MaxLinear had a negative net margin of 29.23% and a negative return on equity of 6.95%. The business had revenue of $136.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $134.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. MaxLinear's revenue was up 48.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MaxLinear, Inc will post -0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MaxLinear

In other news, insider Steven G. Litchfield sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.68, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 343,435 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,385,060.80. This represents a 5.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 44,929 shares of company stock worth $746,456 over the last quarter. 7.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MaxLinear

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of MaxLinear by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 14,074 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in MaxLinear by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 45,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MaxLinear by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 16,048 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in MaxLinear by 103.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,431 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in MaxLinear by 3.5% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 23,210 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. 90.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MaxLinear Company Profile

MaxLinear, Inc is a provider of radio-frequency (RF), analog, and mixed-signal integrated circuits for broadband communications, data center connectivity, and video infrastructure applications. The company's product portfolio includes high-performance RF front-end modules, broadband power amplifiers, optical and Ethernet transceivers, and network processors designed to support demanding signal processing requirements.

MaxLinear's semiconductor solutions are used by cable and satellite television operators, fiber-to-the-home service providers, network equipment manufacturers, and data center operators.

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