Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, fabless semiconductor company MaxLinear (NYSE: MXL) has received the dreaded one-star ranking.

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

MaxLinear facts

Headquarters (Founded) Carlsbad, Calif. (2003)
Market Cap $235.0 million
Industry Semiconductors
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $82.0 million
Management Co-founder/Chairman/CEO Dr. Kishore Seendripu
Co-founder/Chief Technical Officer Dr. Curtis Ling
Trailing-12-Month Return on Equity (26.1%)
Cash/Debt $81.3 million / $5.0 thousand
Competitors Analog Devices
Broadcom
NXP Semiconductors

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

On CAPS, 32% of the 25 members who have rated MaxLinear believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just yesterday, one of those Fools, All-Star BlacknGold, succinctly summed up the bear case for our community:

This is another "almost there!" company. But I just don't see it. MaxLinear is worth $2.65 per share using shareholders' equity. It may very well turn a profit within the next year, but one miss on the lofty expectations of analysts will crush shares. It is virtually inevitable.

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