Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, mobile gadget chip maker Atmel (Nasdaq: ATML) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

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

Atmel facts

Headquarters (founded) San Jose, Calif. (1984)
Market Cap $4.7 billion
Industry Semiconductors
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $1.8 billion
Management CEO Steven Laub (since 2006)
CFO Stephen Cumming (since 2008)
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 20.7%
Cash/Debt $332.5 million / $4.6 million
Competitors LSI
Microchip Technology
Renesas Electronics

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

On CAPS, 92% of the 403 members who have rated Atmel believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.  

A couple of months ago, one of those Fools, All-Star AWinvestments, tapped Atmel as a tasty way to bite into Apple:

There are plenty of companies that enjoy Apple's "Halo Effect." [Atmel] is just such a company too. They makes chips used in touch technology on phones and tablets. They're overlooked and undervalued. ... What's the next BIG thing from Apple likely to be? Apple TV of course, reiterated and mainstreamed into millions of homes. Atmel is poised to work with Apple and make chips for Apple TV's. The market is starting to catch on. ... Fortunately, it's still very early in the game, and now is a great time to cash in on a definite Apple-blessed stock.

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