Little-known chipmaker SiTime could be the next big name in the semiconductor universe, according to UBS. Analyst Timothy Arcuri initiated coverage of the company with a buy rating and $260 price target, which indicates about 20% upside ahead. Arcuri thinks SiTime is a leading precision timing company, which in the semiconductor industry refers to devices that generate and control signals needed for electronic circuits. These are vital for the operation, data transmission and other actions in semis. “With new silicon based solutions, SiTime is disrupting the timing market — the “heartbeat” of the electronics world — and we believe will be one of the fastest growing companies in all of semis over the next few years, led in part by AI,” Arcuri said in a note to clients. “SiTime’s leadership position within the MEMS timing market has led to design wins at Apple and NVDA that we believe are catalysts for 36%/30% Y/Y total revenue growth in CY26/CY27e, above Street consensus by 11%/3%.” According to Arcuri, one of SiTime’s biggest growth opportunities should come from its partnership with Apple. Apple this year made SiTime its exclusive supplier of microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, oscillators for its in-house modem as the iPhone maker replaced traditional quartz crystal oscillators. Unlike quartz crystal oscillators, MEMS are smaller, more energy-efficient and precise oscillators that can be integrated onto a chip. It’s “an opportunity so big that we believe it alone could account for nearly all of the Street’s incremental revenue through 2026,” he said, referring to the Apple partnership. “SiTime has become the only one-stop shop MEMS timing supplier across the industry capable of addressing system-level clocking applications and is unique in its ability to bring together MEMS/analog/subsystems expertise to build timing systems that do not exist today.” SiTime’s stock rallied earlier this year on the inclusion of its oscillators in Apple’s iPhone 16e. The company’s oscillators are also in other Apple products, such as the Apple Pencil Pro. Moreover, Arcuri sees SiTime as a standout artificial intelligence play with room to grow. “In addition to a strong and growing AAPL position, it is also unique among peers in its market cap range given its very high leverage to AI, which we estimate could be pushing 35% of revenue by 2027. We see this year’s 40% revenue growth continuing at least through 2026 and likely beyond as it grows into a large served market relative to its current size,” the analyst said. SiTime isn’t widely covered, but most who do are bullish. LSEG data shows that five of the seven analysts covering the stock rate it a buy or strong buy.
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