5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Linear Tech

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 120,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, chip maker Linear Technology (Nasdaq: LLTC) has earned a coveted five-star ranking. Our data has shown that five-star stocks outperform the market by a significant margin; conversely, one-star stocks have woefully lagged the market average.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Linear's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Linear facts

Headquarters (founded)

Milpitas, California (1981)

Market Cap

$4.73 billion

Industry

Semiconductors

TTM Revenue

$1.2 billion

Management

Co-Founder/Chairman Robert Swanson, Jr.
CEO Lothar Maier

Return on Equity (average last three years)

22.8%

Dividend Yield

4.0%

Competitors

Maxim Integrated Products (Nasdaq: MXIM)
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN)

CAPS members bullish on LLTC also bullish on

NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA)
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)

CAPS members bearish on LLTC also bearish on

IBM (NYSE: IBM)
Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, fully 449 of the 470 members who have rated Linear -- some 96% -- believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include 12Bknown and FutbalRef.

Last week, 12Bknown kept the Linear buy equation simple: "One of the rare tech stocks with a solid performance record, while all the while paying a nice dividend, currently running at nearly 4%."

An earlier pitch from FutbalRef in September agrees, elaborating on the stock's income-generating consistency:

This is a good solid company that makes hi-reliability analog semiconductors used in all types of products from computers to automotive to industrial applications, to high end comsumer electronics, nav systems, aerospace (they have parts in the martian rovers), to defense and others. They pay a nice dividend for a growth stock and they have increased the dividend every year since 2000. They stick to there high profit margin model and avoid products that become commodities.

What do you think about Linear, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 120,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.

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Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Linear Tech, Apple, and NVIDIA are a Motley Fool Stock Advisor picks. Eli Lilly is an  Income Investor selection. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

  • Report this Comment On November 13, 2008, at 11:01 AM, weiwentg wrote:

    The analog industry is a bit of a niche industry in that there aren't a lot of engineering schools that train students right now. That shortage of engineers helps analog firms command premium pricing. HPA chipmakers Linear and its competitor Maxim have developed significant technical expertise. In addition, they don't need cutting edge fab plants like Intel and AMD do, which sharply reduces capital requirements.

    In terms of growth prospects, I do prefer Maxim. Maxim is entering the higher volume consumer electronics business. Analog circuits go into just about every consumer electronic device, so it's definitely a great growth market. Linear, on the other hand, is focusing on the industrial market and high end consumer devices. These command higher margins, but Linear may be sacrificing some growth. I personally own Maxim. However, I have both Linear and Maxim as CAPS picks.

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