The Top Semiconductor Stock Today

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There are many fine semiconductor companies on the market, but one stands above the rest as an investment opportunity. If you were to check with our 110,000-member Motley Fool CAPS community today, you'd see that the highest-rated semiconductor stock is analog circuit designer Intersil (Nasdaq: ISIL).

The lowdown
Intersil is a smaller competitor in the same analog chip space where the likes of Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI), and National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) make their bread. More specifically, Intersil is focused on high-performance parts rather than the higher-volume, lower-margin workaday product spaces. The company is particularly strong in driver chips for LCD panels, specialty industrial chips, broadband communications solutions, and power management devices for computer systems.

In a remarkable show of balance, each of Intersil's four operating segments represented between 21% and 29% of total sales in 2007. It is an American company, headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., at the heart of Silicon Valley. But 41% of its revenue comes from customers in China, 13% from South Korea, nearly 10% from Taiwan, and 19% from other foreign countries -- leaving just 17% of the pie for the troubled domestic market.

Intersil's three-year revenue growth rate is faster than the immediate peer group, which includes companies like National Semiconductor and Linear Technology (Nasdaq: LLTC).

The buzz
"There's not hardly an electronic device that doesn't require a component manufactured by Intersil," says CAPS player Budsworth, who has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Indeed, the customer list includes most of the world's premier electronics shops, including Valley neighbor Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Korean powerhouse Samsung, and fast-growing display specialist LG Display (NYSE: LPL).

Our players have issued 94 bullish ratings on Intersil and only five negative ones. You'd have to look back to last July to find the most recent negative comment on this stock, and all the All-Star players who cast a vote, as well as the entire Wall Street analyst crowd, have a positive view.

Start digging, Fool
If this combination of global reach, Zen-like balance, market opportunities and leadership, and investor approval sounds enticing, you should take a closer look and perhaps buy into this exciting yet relatively unknown all-star stock. Get in before Intersil becomes a household name, and hold it for decades. That's how great fortunes are made.