Why Did Texas Instruments Stock Beat NXP Over Five Years?
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Over the five years to November 2026, two chipmakers in the same industry produced vastly different market returns. The stock of Texas Instruments (TXN) climbed 89.2%, while NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), which makes chips for cars, factories and data centers, rose 34.5%. Was the gap down to faster sales growth, bigger profits, or investors paying more for each dollar of profit?
Who Has Beaten NXP Over Five Years?
NXP has done better than most of its industry. Over the five years to November 2026, its stock beat 63.0% of the chipmakers it was compared with. But three companies whose average sales growth over the last three years was within 4 percentage points of NXP’s beat it, Amkor Technology (AMKR) among them. Each beat NXP by at least 20 points over five years, and the table shows the other two. Texas Instruments came out 54.6 points ahead.
| Company | Sales growth, 3-year average | P/E | 1-year | 3-year | 5-year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) | 2.0% | 20.9x | 33.3% | 52.5% | 34.5% |
| Texas Instruments (TXN) | 5.6% | 40.2x | 95.8% | 132.4% | 89.2% |
| Analog Devices (ADI) | 5.4% | 48.1x | 71.6% | 151.3% | 140.8% |
Total return to 2026-11-12, including dividends. Companies in Semiconductors whose sales grew within 4 points of NXPI’s. P/E: latest close over the last four quarters’ earnings per share.
Analog Devices (ADI) finished further ahead still, beating NXP by 106.3 points. While NXP secured a solid gain for a chipmaker, these three peers performed far better. Analog Devices also more than doubled its sales over that period, up 113.4% against 31.0% for NXP.
Did Texas Instruments Grow Faster Than NXP?
Over the last three years, Texas Instruments expanded sales by an average of 5.6% a year, compared with 2.0% for NXP. Over the full five years, though, that order flips. Between 2021 and 2026, NXP’s sales rose 31.0%, while Texas Instruments’ sales rose 18.1%. Faster sales growth cannot explain a five-year gap when NXP’s sales grew more.
Texas Instruments sells chips through two segments, Analog and Embedded Processing: power products that manage how devices use electricity, and microcontrollers that run electronic equipment.
Where Did The Gap Come From?
Profit growth does not explain the gap; the change in what investors pay for each dollar of profit favored Texas Instruments. These returns include dividends and run from November 12, 2021. The 2021 multiples are priced on September 30, 2021, and NXP’s stock rose 11.2% between those dates. On earnings and multiples alone, the gap is about 23 points. The rest comes from those six weeks and from Texas Instruments’ larger dividends.
Between 2021 and 2026, NXP’s earnings per share rose 124.7%, while Texas Instruments’ fell 1.0%. On profit per share, NXP did not fall behind.
The price of that profit moved the other way. Investors paid 33.1 times earnings for NXP in 2021 and pay 20.9 times today. They now pay less for each dollar of a much larger profit.
Valuations at Texas Instruments went in the opposite direction. Investors paid 24.2 times its earnings in 2021 and pay 40.2 times today. A slightly smaller profit per share at a much higher multiple is what put that stock ahead.
NXP also improved its margins. Its operating margin widened by 7.3 points between 2021 and 2026, while Texas Instruments’ narrowed by 7.0 points. NXP’s management said on the fiscal Q3 2026 call that growth was led by automotive and industrial, and that its gross margin reflects improved factory utilization.
What To Watch In NXP’s Next Report
On the October 27, 2026 call, management said it plans to expand gross margins to 60% during 2027, which is a forecast rather than a result. For fiscal Q4 2026, management guided a reported operating margin of 31.1% to 33.0%, against the 32.5% reported for fiscal Q3 2026.
When the company reports its fiscal Q4 2026 results, expected in February 2027, NXP’s operating margin is the number to watch.
How To Act On NXPI?
Not necessarily on NXP Semiconductors 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. Here are two companies from NXP Semiconductors’ own industry that have beaten it. Over the five years to November 2026, Texas Instruments stock rose 89.2% and Analog Devices stock rose 140.8%, while NXP Semiconductors stock rose 34.5%.
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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