MaxLinear

Second quarter revenue hit 168.8 million dollars, up 55% year over year and up 23% just from the prior quarter. The data center infrastructure business grew 145% year over year as the Keystone chip platform ramps for 800G AI networking. Management guided next quarter even higher, to a range of 210 to 220 million dollars.

This is the quarter MaxLinear turned the corner on earnings, posting a positive GAAP profit of 2 cents a share after losing 31 cents a year ago. On an adjusted basis, operating margin jumped to 22.3% from just 7.2% a year ago, and adjusted earnings per share hit 35 cents. Revenue is scaling while spending stays disciplined.

The headline profit is encouraging, but core operations are not consistently in the black yet. GAAP operating margin was still negative 2.5% this quarter, and operating expenses climbed to 101.8 million dollars. The trend is sharply better, but this is a business still proving it can stay profitable through a full cycle.

Almost all of the growth leans on a small number of hyperscale customers building out AI data centers. If even one pushes out a product ramp, the momentum can reverse fast. And this is a volatile stock, with a beta near 3.9, meaning it swings roughly four times harder than the overall market. This is a high energy turnaround, not a steady compounder.