One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$29.71 our estimate vs market $101.03
Wall Street consensus: $130.33 (338.7% higher than our fair-value estimate)
240% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Synaptics Incorporated
SYNA · NMS · Technology · Semiconductors
Current price
$101.03
52-week range
$58.28 - $149.11
Market cap
$3.95B
Balance sheet
Distressed
-2.44x Concerning
Net debt $434.30M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
2 Rewards
3 Risks
2 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 11.4% last year.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
- Risk Net debt grew 315.1% over 3 years.
- Risk Return on equity was -42.2% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
What this company does
Synaptics Incorporated
Synaptics makes the specialized computer chips that power the "smart" features in many everyday electronics, like the touchscreens on your phone, the fingerprint sensor on a laptop, or the voice controls in a smart speaker. The company earns money by selling these chips in large volumes to the big brands that build these devices. Its success often depends on its ability to win contracts for popular new products in growing areas like smart home gadgets and modern cars.
How the company got here
Synaptics was started in 1986 by scientists who were experts in how the human brain works, with the goal of making computers easier for people to use. They invented the first touchpad for laptops, that flat square you use to move your mouse cursor, which replaced the old rolling trackballs. For years, they were a key supplier for popular gadgets, making the technology behind the original Apple iPod click wheel and the first touch-screen phones. More recently, the company has been shifting its focus from just making parts for PCs and mobile phones to creating smarter chips for a wider range of connected devices, often called the 'Internet of Things' (IoT), and for artificial intelligence that runs on the device itself, known as 'Edge AI'.
What it actually does
Synaptics designs and sells specialized computer chips, called semiconductors, that allow you to interact with electronic devices. Think of the touchpad on your laptop, the fingerprint sensor on your phone, or the chip that helps your smart speaker understand your voice commands; there's a good chance Synaptics designed the technology inside. They don't sell these chips directly to you, but to the big electronics companies (known as original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs) who then build them into the laptops, smartphones, smart home gadgets, and even cars that you buy. Their products are the bridge between you and the digital world, sensing your touch, your voice, and your fingerprints to make devices work.
Core IoT
This is the company's fastest-growing and most strategic business, focused on the 'Internet of Things' (IoT) — everyday objects made smart by connecting to the internet. This segment creates the tiny brains and communication tools for devices like smart speakers, security cameras, and other smart home gadgets. Companies making these products pay Synaptics for chips that can process audio, video, and voice, as well as the wireless chips (like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) that let them connect to each other. This part of the business is a major focus for the company's future and now makes up a significant and rapidly increasing share of its total revenue.
Enterprise & Automotive
This segment covers Synaptics' products for business and car technology. For businesses, a key product line comes from their acquisition of DisplayLink, which makes chips that allow you to easily connect your laptop to multiple external monitors through a single cable, often used in docking stations. In the automotive world, they provide the technology for the touchscreens you see in car dashboards and infotainment systems. This is a large and relatively stable part of Synaptics' business.
Mobile
This is the company's original and more traditional business, providing chips for smartphones and tablets. This includes the controllers that make the touchscreen work and the sensors that read your fingerprint to unlock the device. While this was once the core of Synaptics, the company has been deliberately moving away from the lower-margin (meaning less profit per sale) parts of this market. As a result, this segment now represents a smaller piece of the company's overall sales compared to its other businesses.
What management is betting on now
Management is heavily focused on expanding its role in what it calls 'Physical AI' and 'Edge AI'. This means they are creating more powerful chips that can perform artificial intelligence tasks directly on a device, rather than needing to send information to a powerful computer in the cloud. Their goal is to provide the core technology for things like smarter home robots, more advanced car systems, and other intelligent devices. They are making this happen by investing heavily in new product platforms, like their 'Astra' line of processors, and by acquiring other companies with specialized technology in wireless connectivity and AI.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2025 Q1
$-20.50M
FY2025 Q2
$18.10M
FY2025 Q3
$68.00M
FY2025 Q4
$50.60M
FY2026 Q1
$18.00M
FY2026 Q2
$18.20M
FY2026 Q3
$9.90M
FY2026 Q4
$55.30M
Revenue
$308.00M
Net income
$-447.40M
Diluted EPS
-11.50
Operating cash flow
$67.60M
Free cash flow
$55.30M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$294.20M
Net income
$-8.00M
Diluted EPS
-0.21
Operating cash flow
$21.80M
Free cash flow
$9.90M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$302.50M
Net income
$-14.80M
Diluted EPS
-0.38
Operating cash flow
$29.80M
Free cash flow
$18.20M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$292.50M
Net income
$-20.60M
Diluted EPS
-0.53
Operating cash flow
$30.20M
Free cash flow
$18.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$282.80M
Net income
$-4.70M
Diluted EPS
-0.13
Operating cash flow
$57.20M
Free cash flow
$50.60M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$266.60M
Net income
$-21.80M
Diluted EPS
-0.56
Operating cash flow
$73.40M
Free cash flow
$68.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$267.20M
Net income
$1.80M
Diluted EPS
0.05
Operating cash flow
$22.80M
Free cash flow
$18.10M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$257.70M
Net income
$-23.10M
Diluted EPS
-0.58
Operating cash flow
$-11.40M
Free cash flow
$-20.50M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $29.71 vs current price $101.03
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $130.33 (338.7% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $29.71 a share — about 70.6% below today's price of $101.03, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $434.3M. Interest coverage -2.4x.
Net debt
$434.30M
Interest coverage
-2.44x
Synaptics Incorporated's profit covers its interest bill about 0.0 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here and 1 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
SYNA
BASELINE
Synaptics Incorporated
Total debt $876.80M Interest coverage -2.44x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $130.46M Interest coverage 512.67x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while SYNA does not.
Total debt $0.00 Interest coverage -72.35x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $38.08M Interest coverage 3.68x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while SYNA does not.
Total debt $524.99M Interest coverage 8.60x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while SYNA does not.
What you should know
The case for and against SYNA
2 Rewards
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 11.4% last year.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Net debt grew 315.1% over 3 years.
-
Return on equity was -42.2% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
-
Operating margin compressed from 11.4% to -2.8% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
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Forward P/E
15.36x
P/B
4.25x
P/S
3.30x
EV/EBITDA
47.26x
PEG ratio
0.51x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
44.7%
Operating margin
-2.8%
Net margin
-41.0%
ROE
-42.2%
ROA
-1.5%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.94x
Current ratio
1.12x
Quick ratio
0.86x
Total debt
$876.80M
Total cash
$442.50M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$1.20B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-8.9%
EPS TTM
-12.62
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$149.40M
Free CF TTM
$101.40M
FCF margin
8.5%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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