Chip Stock Investor Podcast

Synopsys (SNPS) and Cadence (CDNS) own the chip design software duopoly that every designer relies on, yet both have badly lagged the semiconductor rally since 2022. One year after Synopsys’ massive Ansys merger, what actually went wrong? In this episode, we break down why the EDA giants are trailing the SOXX, the fallout from the Ansys deal, and why Synopsys sold its ARC processor IP to GlobalFou...

Axon seems to come up in a lot of investing discussion, but its largest competitor often doesn't. Motorola is more than three times the size of Axon. We've done a few videos on Axon, but never on its biggest competitor: Motorola Solutions (MSI). So this time we put them side by side, along with the wider public safety sector, because you shouldn't make a portfolio decision on either on...

Neoclouds like Nebius, CoreWeave, and IREN are showing the signs of a micro bubble, and we trimmed our Nebius position. This episode covers where we think AI capital goes next. Jensen Huang frames the AI economy as a five-layer cake: energy, chips, infrastructure, models, and applications. So far the cake has been inverted. Most capital has gone to the bottom layers (energy, semiconductor manufact...

META is above $740, and the market is pricing Meta Muse as an automatic win. Meta is a top-five CSI holding and we've owned it for years. We're holding, not adding, at this price. Meta reaches 3.6 billion people a day, yet about $59 billion of its $60 billion in quarterly Family of Apps revenue still comes from advertising. Muse, the company's new personal AI agent, is its most serious...

We trimmed Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and CrowdStrike (CRWD).This episode covers the secular trend behind cybersecurity spending and why both names stay core to the thesis, just at a smaller position size. Every new wave of IT infrastructure adds nodes to the network: smartphones, then public cloud, now AI data centers. The number of possible connections between those nodes grows as N(N-1)/2, and e...

AppLovin (APP) runs a 77.7% operating margin, but its revenue growth is slowing, and that combination draws competition. We just took a position in Unity Software (U). This episode walks through the data behind it. Four companies are competing over mobile advertising and user acquisition: AppLovin, Unity Software, Liftoff Mobile (LFTO), and Digital Turbine (APPS). Using our Compare Companies tool,...

Twist Bioscience (TWST) just had a massive run-up after Anthropic's protein design results put its DNA synthesis platform in the spotlight. Here's what's really driving the stock — and whether it's still a buy. Twist has surged in recent months, fueled by growing demand for AI-enabled drug discovery and a high-profile 8-K disclosure tied to Anthropic's protein design campaign....

We compare Credo (CRDO) against Broadcom (AVGO), Marvell (MRVL), and Astera Labs (ALAB) on revenue growth, gross margin, operating margin, and free cash flow margin — four fabless companies selling into the same AI networking build-out with very different economics underneath. Then we run Credo through our full Investment Thesis Checklist: industry classification, secular growth validation, sales...

We break down the takeaways from Oracle's (ORCL) Q1 fiscal 2027 earnings call — what to expect through 2026 and into 2027–2028 as hyperscaler CapEx stays high but is set to slow in growth by 2027, and more in 2028. Oracle posted $19.3B in revenue (sequentially flat) with seasonality fading, while balance sheet concerns persist: $125B in debt against $37B in cash. Management cut debt for a seco...

Nvidia just proposed its largest acquisition ever — $12.9 billion for Hugging Face. But regulators in the US, EU, and China may have other plans. Nvidia has announced plans to acquire Hugging Face, the leading open-source repository for AI and machine learning code, in a deal valued at $12.9 billion — technically the largest acquisition in Nvidia's history. In this episode, we break down what...

Pure Storage just rebranded to Everpure — and in the same stretch, free cash flow went negative 20% in a single quarter. Here's what's really going on. Pure Storage has officially rebranded as Everpure (P), reflecting its shift from a storage-hardware company into a broader enterprise data management platform. In this episode, we break down what the rebrand actually signals about the busin...

Procept BioRobotics is down roughly 80% from its 2025 highs but the technology behind its Aquablation system genuinely works. So why won't we put PRCT in our portfolio? Procept (PRCT) has one of the more interesting razor-and-blade models in medtech: sell the Hydros or Aquabeam system, then earn recurring revenue from single-use handpieces used in every Aquablation procedure for benign prostat...

Oscar Health looks like a screaming buy — growing revenue, growing members, positive free cash flow. So why does the market keep discounting it? We ran the numbers. Oscar Health (OSCR) just posted strong headline numbers: member growth accelerating past 3 million, revenue climbing, free cash flow positive. Health insurers don't get valued like typical growth stocks — and free cash flow is one of t...

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) has been flying high into the end of FY2026. After a decade-long 1,400% run — capped by a broader cybersecurity rally following the Anthropic "Mythos moment" in early 2026 — what comes next? Nick breaks down how Palo Alto expanded from network security into cloud security through acquisitions, including the completed CyberArk deal (identity and access management...

Nokia stock surged on Nvidia's investment and AI RAN hype — then gave much of it back. We ran the numbers on NOK's Q2 2026 earnings to see if the sell-off is a buying opportunity or a warning sign. Nokia (NOK) has become one of 2026's most talked-about telecom equipment names after Nvidia's strategic investment and growing buzz around 6G and AI RAN (Radio Access Network) infrastruc...

AppLovin (APP) stock fell 38% after earnings — but is the digital advertising thesis actually broken, or is this a buying opportunity? Shares dropped roughly 38% after AppLovin's latest report, and investors are asking whether the mobile-ad-turned-AI-advertising company can keep growing into its valuation. In this episode, we map the entire digital ad supply chain, from the walled gardens (Goo...

Enovix stock just hit an all-time low — and then the CEO abruptly resigned. We break down the Q2 2026 earnings, the cash runway, and whether this small bet is still worth holding. Enovix (ENVX) stock cratered to an all-time low following its Q2 2026 earnings update, and just days later, CEO Dr. Raj Talluri announced his departure — poached by Kulicke & Soffa, a fast-growing advanced packaging...

Fastly's revenue just re-accelerated into the mid-20% range — but our reverse DCF says the stock still needs 22%+ FCF growth for a decade to justify $26. Here's why that's a hard pass for now. Part 3 of our CDN series puts Fastly under the microscope after comparing it against Cloudflare and Akamai. We walk through our full investment thesis checklist — supply chain position, technolog...

Cloudflare is growing 30%+ a year — but our supply chain mapping shows a warning sign most investors are missing. In this deep dive, we map the entire CDN supply chain — from hyperscaler and neocloud infrastructure down to enterprise software and e-commerce end markets — using our new Custom Supply Chain research tool. We break down where Cloudflare, Akamai, and Fastly actually sit relative to ver...

CDNs have quietly become one of the most important layers of internet and AI infrastructure, moving everything from website traffic to large-scale AI data transfer. In this episode we compare the three public leaders — Cloudflare (NET), Akamai (AKAM), and Fastly (FSLY) — on revenue growth, gross margin, operating margin, free cash flow margin, and balance sheet strength. We also give you a first l...

Super Micro Computer is trending on social media again. Before you follow the hype, here's what the actual numbers say. CSI breaks down SMCI's most recent quarter using fiscal.ai data — gross profit margin below 11% and guided to stay near the trough, rising revenue with stagnant operating profit, and free cash flow that has been negative for most of the company's history. We also unpa...

Applied Materials just guided toward its first ever quarter exceeding ten billion dollars in revenue, with year-over-year growth above fifty percent at the midpoint. Nick breaks down the full AMAT update for August 2026 — results, guidance, the China recovery, and whether the stock still belongs in a portfolio after the selloff. Q3 fiscal year 2026 came in at nine point one billion in revenue with...

DigitalOcean just raised its 2026 growth guidance to 30–31%, and the stock sold off anyway. In this episode we work through what DigitalOcean's (DOCN) Q2 update actually changed. Management lifted full-year 2026 revenue guidance from 25–27% to 30–31% and pointed to a possible 50%+ growth rate exiting fiscal 2027. The driver is a scaling cohort of large enterprise and developer customers landin...

A practicing pathologist explains why DaVita, UnitedHealth, and Natera are playing fundamentally different games — and why one of them could break first. Investing in healthcare stocks requires a different framework than semiconductor investing. In this excerpt from a CSI live Q&A, we sit down with Dr. Brad Gibson — a practicing pathologist and private-practice partner — to break down how the...

SanDisk (SNDK) fell from $2,000 to $1,200 as memory stocks sold off hard — but is the panic justified? In this episode, Chip Stock Investor breaks down what the fundamentals actually say before you react to the crash. We cover SanDisk's Q1 fiscal 2027 guidance — still 300–400% year-over-year revenue growth, but decelerating — the guide to roughly $45 in adjusted EPS, and why a debt-free balanc...