Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, technology licensing company Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS) has received a distressing two-star ranking.

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

Rambus facts

Headquarters (founded) Sunnyvale, Calif. (1990)
Market Cap $737.7 million
Industry Semiconductors
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $312.4 million
Management CEO Harold Hughes, Jr. (since 2005)
CFO Satish Rishi (since 2006)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 0.7%
Cash/Debt $289.5 million / $133.5 million
Competitors Elpida Memory
Hynix Semiconductor
Samsung Electronics

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 16% of the 522 members who have rated Rambus believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Earlier this week, one of those bears, fellow Fool Anders Bylund (TMFZahrim), succinctly summed up the underperform case:

Rambus settles a few claims, loses the rest, and goes home somewhat richer but none the nobler. The prospects for another successful lawsuit are fading fast, which is why I'm starting a bearish CAPScall on Rambus even at these five-year lows (if you ignore occasional even-deeper plunges along the way). It's still a long way to the bottom.

If you want to retire rich, you need to protect your portfolio from any undue risk. Luckily, we've found another stock we are incredibly excited about -- excited enough to dub it "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012." We have compiled a special free report for investors to uncover this stock today. The report is 100% free, but it won't be here forever, so click here to access it now.

Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the new TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.