Was Analog Devices’ Rise Driven By The Company Or Its Industry?
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Over the five years ending November 5, 2026, one semiconductor stock rose more than 46 of the 54 other companies in its industry that traded for the entire period. That stock is Analog Devices (ADI), a maker of chips for industrial equipment, cars, smartphones and data centers. So did Analog Devices’ gain come from its industry, or from the company itself?
How Far Analog Devices Is Ahead Of Its Industry
Analog Devices stock rose 113.1% over those five years, while the typical company in its industry lost 15.7%. The table below compares the stock with its industry, sector and the broader market over the past year, three years and five years:
| 1-year | 3-year | 5-year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analog Devices (ADI) | 54.9% | 125.8% | 113.1% |
| Semiconductors industry (median company) | -6.9% | 28.4% | -15.7% |
| Information Technology sector (median company) | -7.9% | 23.6% | -27.4% |
| All stocks in our data (median company) | 2.2% | 25.8% | -6.2% |
| S&P 500 index | 8.2% | 68.4% | 56.5% |
Total return to 2026-11-05, including dividends; the S&P 500 row is the index level, price only. Industry, sector and all-stock rows are the median company of each group.
The industry and sector rows represent the typical company in each group regardless of size, while the S&P 500 index is driven by its largest companies. Larger chipmakers such as Micron Technology, NVIDIA and Broadcom rose far more than Analog Devices. Its lead is over the middle of its industry, and that middle group went backward.
Was It Analog Devices’ Industry?
The S&P 500 rose 56.5% over the five years, yet Analog Devices gained much more. Chipmakers, for their part, performed better than the broader technology sector, where the typical company lost 27.4%.
Measured by the typical company, however, the industry provided Analog Devices no lift. The typical chipmaker fared worse than the typical stock across the market, which lost 6.2%. Semiconductors ranked seventh out of 12 industries in the technology sector. Analog Devices rose against the tide of its own industry, so the lead came from the company itself.
What Did Analog Devices’ Business Do?
Analog Devices has not grown faster than its industry over the last three years. Sales grew by an average of 5.4% a year, landing slightly below the typical chipmaker’s 6.6%.
Over the five years to fiscal Q3 2026, however, twelve-month revenue rose 113.4%. Operating margin widened from 31.6% to 35.7%. The diluted share count also expanded by 31.5%, so earnings per share rose less than revenue, increasing by 84.5%. Most of the revenue growth occurred in the first two of those five years.
The stock currently trades at 42.4 times earnings, up from 36.3 times in 2021. The typical chipmaker trades at 36.5 times. Earnings per share rose far more than the multiple did, so the business itself did more of the work.
During the August 19, 2026 call, management said industrial sales, which account for about half of revenue, rose 53% from a year earlier in fiscal Q3 2026. The company’s data center sales more than doubled in both optical and power products. Based on management’s own measure, gross margin rose a third of a percentage point year over year to 72.5%. Management credited the gain to higher revenue, fuller factories and a better product mix.
Is Analog Devices Still Ahead Over The Past Year?
Yes. Over the year to November 5, 2026, the stock beat 56 of the 64 chipmakers it was compared with, securing a slightly larger share than it did over five years. That count already factors in the stock’s 11.1% fall on November 5.
That came on a day the Nasdaq fell 5.5%. Here’s what followed the last 21 days like it.
On the August call, management said earnings per share rose 68% from a year earlier in fiscal Q3 2026, based on its own measure. Management also expects a brisk growth year in 2027, which is a forecast, not a result.
When Analog Devices reports fiscal Q4 2026 results, expected in November 2026, the figure to watch is earnings per share on its own measure against the same quarter a year earlier.
How To Act On ADI?
Not necessarily on Analog Devices alone, if your goal is long-term wealth. Wealth is built by owning the companies that keep outperforming, the leaders of their industries, wherever they are. Analog Devices is one. Over the five years to November 2026, its stock rose 113.1%, ahead of 46 of the 54 other companies in Semiconductors, where the typical company fell 15.7%.
Finding companies like these takes comparison across industries and sectors, and that is what the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio does. It holds 30 quality companies in equal weight and, since its inception in September 2020, has returned more than 105%, ahead of a benchmark that combines the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap and Russell 2000. See how we find the leaders.
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