ON vs POWI: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

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.

Reading it: ON is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

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. ON 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 ON 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.

onsemi (ON Semiconductor) is a US-based semiconductor company focused on intelligent power and sensing technologies. Its power products, including silicon and silicon-carbide devices, manage and convert electricity in electric vehicles, industrial equipment, and power supplies, while its sensing products, such as image sensors, are used in automotive cameras and industrial vision. The company has deliberately concentrated on automotive and industrial markets, where semiconductor content per vehicle and per machine is rising, and it has been repositioning its manufacturing and product mix toward higher-margin, differentiated products rather than commodity chips.

Full ON guide

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.

Full POWI guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• ON drivers: AI data-center power opportunity; Rising semiconductor content in vehicles.
• POWI drivers: GaN (PowiGaN) adoption; Industrial and data-center demand.

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: The dominant risk is cyclicality: onsemi's automotive and industrial end markets rise and fall with the economy, vehicle production, and factory investment, so revenue and earnings can swing sharply and a soft patch can pressure results even amid long-run content growth. For POWI, power Integrations is cyclical and heavily exposed to consumer electronics, so demand swings and customer inventory corrections can hit revenue sharply.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick ON if you believe its drivers more; POWI if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the ON and POWI guides.

ON. Figures are approximate and as of October 16, 2026; verify live numbers before acting. For a cyclical semiconductor company, earnings multiples look high near a trough and low near a peak, which is why onsemi screens at about 50 times trailing GAAP earnings but about 16 times forward estimates, at roughly 4.6 times trailing sales. Analysts' mean target of about $105 across 27 analysts sits well above the price, and the November 2 report will test whether AI data-center and industrial growth can carry the forecast recovery.

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): ON shows revenue (ttm) ~$6.2 billion (Q2 2026 up ~9% YoY), revenue (q2 2026) ~$1.60 billion, non-gaap eps (q2 2026) ~$0.74 vs ~$0.72 estimate, margins (ttm) gross ~43%, operating ~20%, net ~10%; 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.

ON 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 ON and POWI exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.