Reliability is the name of the game for semiconductor company Microsemi (NASDAQ:MSCC). Not much works without power these days, and many of Microsemi's chips help to reliably control and regulate the flow of power through gizmos as varied as laptops, ICDs, and satellites.

I actually have a long history with this company and stock, having profitably owned it long ago in the mid '90s. I've always liked the company's understated approach to business and its broad breadth of market exposure. Suffice it to say, I kinda wish I'd hung on to the shares, or at least bought more in late 2003.

Sales for the company's fourth quarter climbed 16%, and management pointed to strength in the lighting, notebook PC, and LCD TV markets as drivers. Earnings comparisons, though, are befuddled by some GAAP to non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) accounting adjustments. Fortunately, the story is basically the same no matter which numbers you look at -- margins were better and profits grew quite nicely. Putting a nice cherry atop the quarter, the book-to-bill ratio was an expansionary 1.05.

While the business or its chips aren't inherently flashy, Microsemi has its fingers in some pretty attractive pies. Not only is there the consumer electronic business, but also the company is seeing improvements in the satellite/space business and good future demand in wireless land power amplifiers. What's more, the medical business is still going strong. The company supplies chips to all three major ICD players (implantable pacemakers) -- Guidant, Medtronic, and St. Jude -- and is looking to grow its dollar value of content supplied from $63 to $100 per ICD by the end of next year.

Management looks to have made a savvy deal for Advanced Power Technology (NASDAQ:APTI), but I'm not all that excited by the shares. Compared with rivals like Linear Technology (NASDAQ:LLTC), Anadigics (NASDAQ:ANAD), and Fairchild (NYSE:FCS), the stock has been on fire the last couple of years. What's more, I can't contort my value models into registering a "buy." Still, I've always held a soft spot for this company and I'd love to revisit its investment merits at a lower valuation.

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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).