Based on the aggregated intelligence of 165,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, chipmaker Atheros Communications (Nasdaq: ATHR) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Atheros facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Santa Clara, Calif. (1998)

Market Cap

$2 billion

Industry

Semiconductors

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$669.25 million

Management

CEO Craig Barratt (since 2003)
CFO Jack Lazar (since 2003)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

7.9%

Compound Annual Revenue and Net Income Growth (Over Past 3 Years)

25.8% and 55.9%

Cash/Debt

$443.6 million / $0

Competitors

Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM)
Marvell Technology (Nasdaq: MRVL)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 98% of the 545 All-Star members who have rated Atheros believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include brownboddington and my Foolish colleague Anders Bylund (TMFZahrim), both of whom are ranked in the top 16% of our community.

Just last week, brownboddington highlighted the massive tailwind working in the stock's favor: "Wireless is the future and chips will be in more devices that we can imagine today. [Atheros] is one of the best positioned companies for this soon to be massive market."

Specifically, Atheros has built a strong reputation for wireless local area network (WLAN) chips found in personal computers, routers, and, most appealing to Fools, handheld devices. The stock has been crushed over the last three months, but with no debt and a paltry PEG ratio of 0.6 (bigger rivals Broadcom and Marvell sport PEGs of 0.9 and 0.7, respectively), our community likes Atheros as a safe bet on the continued growth of wireless communications.

About two months ago, Anders summed up the long-term opportunity:

As long as the world hungers for more, better, faster wireless networking, Atheros is likely to deliver the goods. And after that, the company isn't afraid of change, either: recent forays into classic Ethernet controllers and powerline networking are starting to pay dividends. This is a long-term world-beater.

What do you think about Atheros, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!