NVTS vs POWI: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?
Last updated October 2026
Short answer
NVTS (Navitas Semiconductor) and POWI (Power Integrations) share investment themes but are different businesses. The right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme.
NVTS vs POWI: the tie-breaker metrics
Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.
| Metric | NVTS | POWI | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $2.19B | $2.49B | Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove. |
| Forward P/E | -66.18 | 23.76 | Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up. |
| Beta | 3.96 | 1.53 | Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through. |
| Price vs 52-week range | 5% of range | 23% of range | Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why. |
| Price / book | 2.72 | 3.65 | How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price. |
Before you buy: how NVTS and POWI affect your concentration
The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. NVTS and POWI share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.
This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined NVTS and POWI exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
What does Navitas Semiconductor (NVTS) do?
Navitas Semiconductor is a power-semiconductor company focused on next-generation materials: gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC). These wide-bandgap materials switch faster and run more efficiently than traditional silicon power chips, enabling smaller, cooler, and more power-dense designs. Navitas makes money selling GaN power ICs and SiC devices into chargers and adapters for phones and laptops, data center power supplies, solar and energy storage inverters, electric vehicles, and consumer appliances. The company integrates control, drive, and protection circuitry onto its GaN chips, which it markets as a system-level advantage over discrete components. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Torrance, California, Navitas is a smaller, growth-stage player whose story centers on the AI data center power transition, where rising rack power densities are pushing the industry toward GaN and SiC for higher efficiency.
What does Power Integrations (POWI) do?
Power Integrations designs and sells high-voltage analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits used in AC-DC and DC-DC power conversion. Its chips regulate and convert electricity inside phone chargers, appliances, LED lighting, industrial equipment, EV and renewable-energy systems, and data-center power supplies. The company is fabless (it outsources manufacturing), which supports gross margins in the low-to-mid 50 percent range, and it has invested heavily in PowiGaN, its in-house gallium-nitride technology that improves efficiency and shrinks power supplies versus older silicon parts.
NVTS vs POWI: how do they differ?
Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.
- NVTS drivers: AI data center power; GaN and SiC adoption curve.
- POWI drivers: GaN (PowiGaN) adoption; Industrial and data-center demand.
Which fits which kind of investor
A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Navitas is small, unprofitable, and competes against far larger and better-capitalized incumbents (Infineon, onsemi, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments) that also sell GaN and SiC. For POWI, power Integrations is cyclical and heavily exposed to consumer electronics, so demand swings and customer inventory corrections can hit revenue sharply.
NVTS or POWI: which should you pick?
NVTS vs POWI: the full fundamentals
NVTS. Navitas trades as a growth and theme stock rather than on current earnings: at about 62 times trailing sales, the price assumes the data center and energy markets replace the exited charger business many times over. Analysts expect losses to continue (about -$0.15 per share in 2026 and -$0.13 in 2027) while revenue grows toward about $74 million in 2027. With roughly $557 million of cash, a large share of the roughly $2.3 billion market cap is balance sheet, and the November 3 third-quarter report (consensus about $13.5 million of revenue) is the next check on the guided 28% sequential growth.
POWI. As of mid-October 2026 the stock trades near $45, down from the mid-$70s in July and roughly half its 52-week high of $91.18, though still well above the low near $31. Revenue is growing in the low single digits off a cyclical trough while GAAP earnings remain depressed (trailing net income about $25 million), which is why the reported price-to-earnings multiple is extremely high. Consensus looks for 2026 EPS of about $1.39 and 2027 EPS of about $1.87, and Q3 results land November 4, 2026.
Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): NVTS shows revenue (ttm) ~$37 million, revenue growth (q2 2026, yoy) ~-27% (mobile charger exit); +22% sequentially, gross margin (ttm) ~38%, operating margin (ttm) deeply negative (~-255%); POWI shows revenue (ttm) ~$449M, latest quarter up ~3% YoY, q2 2026 revenue ~$119M (up ~10% sequentially), margins Gross ~53.7%, operating ~7.5%, non-gaap eps (q2 2026) $0.37 vs ~$0.32 expected.
The bottom line: NVTS vs POWI
NVTS and POWI are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined NVTS and POWI exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Wondering how NVTS or POWI fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in Navitas Semiconductor with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how NVTS fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the difference between NVTS and POWI?
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Navitas Semiconductor is a power-semiconductor company focused on next-generation materials: gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC). Power Integrations designs and sells high-voltage analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits used in AC-DC and DC-DC power conversion. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.
Is NVTS or POWI the better stock?
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Neither is universally better; they suit different views and risk levels. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.
Which is cheaper, NVTS or POWI?
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On forward P/E (as of October 2026), NVTS trades at -66.18x and POWI at 23.76x, so NVTS is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.
Should you own both NVTS and POWI?
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Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.
What are the risks of NVTS vs POWI?
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NVTS: Navitas is small, unprofitable, and competes against far larger and better-capitalized incumbents (Infineon, onsemi, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments) that also sell GaN and SiC. Much of the bull case rests on data center design wins, including the NVIDIA 800V work, that are early-stage and may not convert to material revenue on the expected timeline. The exit from mobile chargers means revenue is in a trough: second-quarter 2026 revenue of about $10.5 million was down about 27% year over year, and the quarter's net loss of about $228 million was far larger than its $27.2 million operating loss, so items outside operations swung reported results. Trailing net losses total about $313 million on about $37 million of revenue, and the stock trades near 62 times trailing sales. Customer concentration and the capital intensity of scaling can pressure results. As a smaller-cap, story-driven stock it is highly volatile: shares fell from a 52-week high near $34 to $8.65 by October 16, 2026, down about 32% in three months alone. POWI: Power Integrations is cyclical and heavily exposed to consumer electronics, so demand swings and customer inventory corrections can hit revenue sharply. Its valuation is demanding, with a GAAP price-to-earnings ratio near 103 and a forward multiple around 24, leaving little room for disappointment; the 39% fall in the three months to mid-October 2026 shows how fast that multiple can reset. Competition is intense from far larger power-semiconductor players including onsemi, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, NXP, and Texas Instruments, plus GaN-focused rivals such as Navitas. A large portion of sales flows through Asia, creating concentration, currency, and geopolitical exposure, and the GaN growth thesis could slow if adoption or pricing disappoints. Analysts expect 2027 revenue of about $545 million, roughly 35% above 2026 estimates, so the current price leans on a reacceleration that has not yet shown up in reported numbers.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell NVTS or POWI; figures are approximate and dated (as of October 2026). Verify current data before investing.