MACOM: Accelerating Multi-Year Growth in High-Margin Data Center, Telecom, and Defense Driving Top SMID-Cap Analog Semi Pick

Evercore ISI analyst Mark Lipacis has maintained their bullish stance on MTSI stock, giving a Buy rating today.

Mark Lipacis has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors that reflect both strong near‑term execution and compelling multi‑year growth prospects. He highlights management’s ambition to roughly double revenue in well under six years—potentially in closer to three years—driven by a powerful product cycle spanning data center, telecom, and defense end markets. In data centers, MACOM is positioned across a wide range of optical and high‑speed connectivity components for 800G and 1.6T applications, while in telecom and defense it stands to benefit from opportunities such as LeoSat, DOCSIS 4.0, fronthaul optics, radar, and electronic warfare systems. Lipacis also believes current expectations for MACOM’s share of the rapidly expanding 200G‑per‑lane photodetector market are conservative, with his own checks suggesting the company can capture a meaningfully larger portion of that opportunity, particularly at 1.6T.

At the financial level, Lipacis argues that data center revenue should enhance, not dilute, MACOM’s gross margins because the company manufactures many of these products internally and focuses on higher‑margin devices than several peers. He acknowledges that operating expenses will rise as the firm invests in new design centers and expands engineering talent—especially in RF power following a competitor’s planned exit—but views this as necessary support for higher future revenue and product breadth. He also points to a gradual but meaningful ramp in satellite communications programs beginning later this year, with potential for substantial follow‑on orders by the mid‑2027 timeframe. Reflecting these growth drivers and margin dynamics, he raises his price target to $275, valuing the stock at a premium multiple of his 2028 earnings estimate and reaffirming MACOM as his top small‑ and mid‑cap analog semiconductor pick.

In another report released today, TipRanks – Google also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $249.00 price target.