MAXLINEAR, INC — Call Transcript 2026

Global Growth Conference. My name is Quinn Bolton, and I'm the semiconductor analyst for Needham. It's my pleasure to host this fireside chat with MaxLinear, headquartered in Carlsbad, California. MaxLinear is the leader in market applications. Joining me from the company is Steve Litchfield, Chief Strategy Officer and CFO. We also have Leslie Green in the audience who handles investor relations. Steve, in terms of driving new revenue growth? Sure, sure. Yeah, no, thanks, Quinn. And yeah, so you're right. We have been, I guess it's been about seven years now. Perfect. Data center is pretty hot right now, so I'll sort of jump in with some of the data center questions. Reviewers. Sure. Yeah. So, I mean, it really kind of ties back to some of the kind of analog RF differentiation that we had in the beginning, the SerDes capability that the companies had. And so, yeah, relatively new, but we're getting a lot of traction with our new Keystone product for 800G, and that's where we're seeing most of the revenues this year. Giving you that visibility or confidence that this is going to be a nice growth opportunity. Right. Yeah, so I mean, we've been growing the business. It's kind of been really focused around the optical transceivers. Naturally, U.S. hyperscalers are one of the big focus areas, but even just Tier 1, Tier 2 data centers in the U.S., as well as in China, ultimately selling into the data centers, and so that's some relationships that we've developed over the last several years that I think does have some influence, but we got to really. $25 million to maybe as many as $50 million this year. That's putting some constraints and maybe enabling the semiconductor vendors to sort of pick and choose for guys like the InnoLight, the Coherent, Eoptolink, given this environment where you can become a more important sort of partner to them. You know, yes, it is helping in general. I think it's, I mean, we get this question a lot. It's like, you know, why do they, you know, we're kind of that third guy. Samsung solution there. So I think that's yet another, you know, I think it kind of validates the strategy there, and customers really like. Are they picking up? Yes. I mean, they were really picking up last year. I mean, we saw that. So I think that's what's driving the revenue this year. I don't think the tightness of supply or anything. Engaged with all the top 10 there. I would say where our efforts are is probably on the top three or four because they're really moving the needle there. I think it's the same advantage, lower power consumption. You mentioned the Samsung foundry relationship, but just sort of, what's your expectations in terms of? I think of Q2 a lot like, I mean, those Qualcomm's design wins, if you will, moving to production this year with more of the revenue ramp. I know we're late in the quiet period. I'll ask if you can't answer. Understood. I think you previously talked about sort of DSPs being in the 60-70 million range in calendar 2025 with environment, do you still feel that those are reasonable expectations, or would you rather punt that until earnings? Don't mind. I mean, we are excited. Bookings rates have certainly picked up because customers acknowledge, you know, it's tough to get product right now. I guess if there are perhaps skeptics in the audience. You know, people are placing orders. But I mean, for the optical products, probably 28 weeks. And so we feel good about that. So we've got good visibility and. Last question on the DSP, you know, $100 million plus, hopefully in 2026. Where do you see that going? What's the opportunity, say, over the next two to three years? So I think that. I think, can it continue to double? I think it, you know, has the potential to. The market is certainly going in that direction. A couple of. Discuss the products you're selling into each market and sort of MaxLinear's differentiation in access as well as backhaul. Sure. So maybe going back to your original. Start out with the beachhead. That was the modem initially, and we're still really the only merchant modem manufacturer out there. Built that product, sold as well. So the content increase has kind of been two- to threefold in a market that is growing. And you know, even in some of these markets, and I can maybe talk overbuild or you know, big CapEx over the last two years, we've not seen much. I think as we think about 2026, we start to see that recover. As it grows, does it sort of smooth out and become a little bit more predictable? Or, you know, do you always think it's going to have a little bit of lumpiness to it? Yeah. I mean, I've been in. I mean, you know, you talk about access, like the 5G, for example. You know, you'll see the same thing with 6G. But as the markets get a little bit bigger, you can, you know, see hopefully. Access and the backhaul business? Yeah, I mean, we don't break it out specifically. I mean, it's, I think you're familiar. I mean, it's run close to. Secured two design wins on the access side with 5G wins with two major North American telecom providers. Can you give us a sense? Sort of what's the timeline of. Winning, you know, winning more, those are kind of big lighthouse wins that now others are kind of pointing to, and they're confident that we can, you know. Where do you see O-RAN traction, you know, kind of relatively in the bigger, you know, 5G range? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, the Pegatron one's a nice one. It's a good thing, and so we're trying to work with our customers in order to get the message out. But I think it's just a good example of some of the wins that we have with Sierra. I think. Maybe to wrap up, wireless in general, sounds like the CapEx environment hopefully stabilizing and improving. You've got some of the design wins. You talked about ramping. Got better for 26. So I feel like, you know, it's much better here. And finally, we're starting to see some more CapEx dollars flow as well. So I think it'll be accelerator. I mean, it's really an offload capability that we have. So it reduces the need for more CPUs or more cores. Offload capability is more appealing to a lot of customers. The real competitive landscape is the bigger guy there is instead of the QAT solution. So I think that speaks to the capability that we have. But I see us continuing to grow. We recently. But from an architecture standpoint, their customers are going in this direction. And so we certainly want to partner with them. And they're kind of pushing a lot of customers our way. So it's really. I mean, I guess, you know, the QAT offering from Intel is running on their CPU cores, right? Correct. So yes, they can do the compression, but you load the cores to do more, hopefully, workloads. That's right. Right. Okay. That's right. You talked about the AMD relationship, I think pretty well, which was one of my questions. I think another. People that are doing it, but then as you go further, you're starting to see more data center guys that, you know, want to have that same capability, and so a lot of our engagements now are. Cards based on Panther, would they look for you to do the entire card solution? Both. I mean, I think there are examples out there where they're doing their own bigger. I would, you know, I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. I mean, I think most of that's going to be consumed by custom silicon. But. Recently introduced, I think it was in the third quarter, your Panther V solution, kind of just equipped Panther V, or I think the last was Panther III. Panther 3. That roadmap is evolving, growing. As we get more traction, we're seeing more applications out there, more use cases that want to use the. Over $50-$100 million. Perfect. All right. I think that kind of wraps up my infrastructure questions. Maybe moving on to broadband and 25%-ish growth in broadband and 40%-ish growth in connectivity? Yeah. So it's a little bit of everything. Again, that transitional year in. This, Quinn, we, you know, a couple of three years ago, we were doing less than $10 million. That's, you know, upwards of $50-$60 million now. So we're making nice progress there. 2027, not because we don't necessarily guide in these areas. But, you know, as we look into 2026 and 2027, we're starting to see more CapEx dollars really pick up. It's not so much wins, market share gains, you know, PON wins, upgrades on Wi-Fi 7. I mean, there's a number of things that drive improvement over the next couple of. Your content gains, how you're feeling about your competitive position relative to Broadcom and DOCSIS 4.0, and maybe the content uplift that you get as DOCSIS 4.0? Not sustainable, probably not surprising anyone in the room. That being said, we are winning more market share, as I pointed out on the PON side. And I think you make a really good point on the DOCSIS upgrade. So that's another driver. I mean, we started shipping DOCSIS 4.0 in 2025. It's a small number, but we'll see more of that in 2026 and really probably more in earnest in 2027. We're seeing those upgrades happen now. If you recall, maybe walk through this for everybody, but most of the upgrades to date on DOCSIS 4.0 or even the 3.1 Ultra have been at the head end, the amps, the nodes, you know, the infrastructure piece that has to be built out first. We participate on the CPE side, so the gateway that's in the home. So the way the MSOs typically operate when they roll out these upgrades is they spend all the CapEx, kind of have a set amount of CapEx dollars. They spend that on the front end of it. And then over time, that piece goes down and then the CPE piece goes up. So we'll start to see that in 2026 and follow through in 2027. So I don't think it's huge in 2026, but I think it definitely picks up even more in 2027. And recall that our ASPs are upwards of 40-plus% increase with the DOCSIS 4.0 over DOCSIS 3.1. Probably a year plus ago, BEAD funding was sort of thought to be a potential driver. I'll be honest, I haven't heard as much about it recently. Is that still an opportunity? Do you feel that that catalyst may be going away, or do you still think there's some pretty good. Who knows? I mean, you know, spending that may help. Joking aside, I mean, yeah, I mean, it was talked about a lot, like I said, maybe a year and a half ago. It really did go away. Yeah, we've heard some of our customers talk about it's driving some of the upside that they're seeing. So yeah, I mean, it sounds like it will get a, you know, we'll see some uplift from that. Okay. You had mentioned on the PON side, and you've talked about this before. You've got a win now, gateway win with a second leading tier one vendor. Can you give us sort of an update? How does that, you know, when does that come to market? I think it's coming relatively soon. How big of a driver of the PON business, you know, is that? Is that going to be a majority of the ramp going forward, or do you have a nice portfolio behind this, you know, this particular win? So it's nice, but it's not. Yeah, yeah. I mean, look, I think it's. I mean, I mentioned that kind of lighthouse win. I mean, it's the big North America guy. And so it's great. I mean, it's a business that we had never had. It was really our competitor had it 100% for years and years and years. So I think in some respects, it just demonstrates, you know, the customer's interest, willingness to move with our solution. So I think that in itself is big. Others reflect on that as well. They, hey, they've ramped their Wi-Fi 7, they ramped their pod product. With this guy, it really proves, you know, that they are more than capable. So I think it's been helpful from that standpoint. You asked when it ramps. I mean, yeah, it's late Q1 is when we'll start to see it Q2. That's our expectation based on the feedback. I know in the cable space, many of the big MSOs will have multiple sources of supply and ODM partners and silicon partners. Is this Tier 1 PON ramp, is that 100% MaxLinear on the next generation platform, or are you just coming as a second supplier to the incumbent? Yeah. So I mentioned our competitor had 100% of this business, and we were able to take that. I think ultimately they'll end up with two. I think it is headed in that direction. I think we just want to run as fast as we can and consume as many of those products as possible right now. You ask about the other guys. I mean, there's certainly, I mean, globally, there's a lot more opportunities that we are pushing and driving. We're seeing design wins. I mean, I think that's something that, you know, over the last couple of years with broadband, you know, just so depressed and so much inventory out in the channel, I think, you know, a lot of folks have kind of lost sight of market share gains and things like that just because there was inventory sitting in the channel. And I think what's been encouraging for us as of late is you're seeing a lot more RFPs. We're winning more RFPs. We're winning business that we've never had. And that's exciting, you know, as the recovery happens. Right. Perfect. Maybe just a last question on sort of broadband connectivity. Talk about the 2.5 gigabit Ethernet business. You've got wins with North America OEM on the enterprise side, but just sort of thoughts on the Ethernet ramp. Yeah. So Ethernet's another nice, I call it, I mean, it's a product line. It's a great product line. It goes up against a couple of peers that aren't super focused around two and a half gig. And so we've got something that is really differentiated. It's on our gateways, but I think to some degree, a little more exciting than that is the broadening out of our two and a half gig offering. We're winning on enterprise. There's a lot of enterprise switches that need two and a half gig. There's a lot of industrial applications, small business applications that we're winning on. That goes well beyond broadband, as you know. And there's what, a billion plus ports out there of one gig SFP's and switches that are going to upgrade to two and a half gig. And so the more of those we just continue to win, you know, we'll continue to see revenue. Sounds like it can be a nice long tail kind of business. Absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. Industrial and multi-market was a tougher market for you in 2025. I think we estimate it down about 50% in the year. Discuss some of the headwinds you saw last year, and do you think, you know, as we go into 2026, are those headwinds beginning to abate? Yeah. Yeah, so 2025 was a tough year, the first half of the year even. So a fair amount of this goes into China. And we saw a lot of pricing pressure in China. We also had some export control challenges as well, which the year-over-year numbers anyway reflect that in 2025. So that was a headwind. I think no more export control issues. Knock on, I mean, when I say that, yes, there will be more export control issues. But with regard to these product lines, we don't have licenses. And that was the problem last year. Now, could they put more people on the Entity List? I mean, they could. On the pricing side, which I would say probably had the bigger hit to us, I mean, pricing just went way down. There were a few areas where we just kind of chose not to participate. I think you're seeing this from some of our peers now that have chosen to raise prices pretty aggressively. I think that's, you know, kind of acknowledging there's certain places in the market where there is some low-end China supply, and they can certainly push that. I think a big chunk of the market, I would argue maybe even the majority of the market, they don't have that solution. And so I think our approach has been good in that, you know, hold the line on pricing, don't compete where, you know, kind of in the mud. And that's not the place we want to be. We want to stay on the higher end. We want to stay in these markets. We're not going away. So all in, I think things have kind of stabilized. I think we'll get back to kind of a somewhat normalized, you know, 4%, 5%, kind of mid-single digit growth this year. Okay. You had mentioned that the price declines. I think both Texas Instruments and, I know, Analog Devices has been vocal about raising channel pricing effective February 1st. Sounds like that is sort of helping the outlook for the business, at least on a pricing front. Yeah. I mean, you know, so having gone through this last year, and I mean, we, you know, also chose to kind of hold the line. No, we weren't necessarily raising prices, but we weren't going to just kind of go down in the mud with everyone else. And I think TI and ADI did come out and ultimately raise. And so, yeah, that's certainly been helpful. Got it. Just moving to the last few general questions. You know, as you think about the mix shift over the next few years to the infrastructure businesses, how does that change the gross margin profile of the business? Yeah. Generally favorable. Our infrastructure business runs a little higher than the corporate average. Not a ton higher, but certainly higher. And so I think you'll, I mean, I think you're familiar, Quinn, but our gross margins kind of ticked down over the last, what, two years as revenues came down. The mix kind of worked against us. That's starting to turn the other direction. So we're making some progress. I expect this year, you know, hopefully we're going to end the year starting with a six instead of a five. So that'll be good. And as more infrastructure growth that we see, you know, hopefully we can start to move that up even further. Perfect. What's your approach as the business begins to recover to managing OpEx? I know through the downturn, you took a lot of OpEx offline. Some of that was because you had ended some big projects like Wi-Fi 7 and optical DSP. Well, you're probably going to continue to spend on optical DSP, but there were a number of platforms that you sort of, you know, got through the project and so you didn't need to repeat that spending. But as revenue rebounds in 2026 and beyond, how do you think about managing OpEx? You know, is there any sort of guidance you can give for investors? So I mean, our general guideline here is to grow the OpEx at about half the rate of the top line. That's kind of a general parameter that we look at. I think as I look at 2026, you're right, Quinn, we caught about 20 plus, a little over 20% of the OpEx going back about a year and a half ago now. That took us about six months to kind of all play out. But you're right, some of that was because there was some heavy lift on the Rushmore product and a few, Wi-Fi 7, a few other projects that have kind of come down. I think we're really more into steady state at this point. So I don't feel like we need some big step up in OpEx. I think this year, I mean, you're likely. Investors likely see you start to see some more leverage in the model and kind of getting back to some of the operating margin profiles that we'd seen in the past and what we had expected, that we expected MaxLinear. Perfect. I'll ask, I know you're very limited in what you could say on Silicon Motion, but just sort of updated thoughts or just reiterate your thoughts on timing as to when that reaches a conclusion. Yeah. No change here. Arbitration started in Q4 in October. Would expect to have some resolution mid-year. Okay. We've gotten some questions from investors in advance of that resolution. The company announced a $75 million buyback in November. Obviously, it seems like a positive signal. Maybe just talk through the rationale for the timing and what's driving that buyback. Yeah. Look, I mean, I think the board just kind of felt pretty straightforward. I mean, you know, stock trading where it is, the company, I mean, having gone through the last couple of years, really correcting the OpEx, had a big cut on the OpEx side. Our outlook on the revenue side is much better, much stable, much more certain. I mean, I mentioned the visibility that we have. So I think between the visibility that we have on the revenue side, the profit increases that we expect to see this year, the cash position improvement, you know, dramatically different than, say, 18 months ago. And so I think the board feels better about that. Stock where it is, hey, they want to kind of, you know, show that to investors. And ultimately, I mean, we've had buybacks in place before. The idea of kind of offsetting some of the dilution that we have just for employees, we'd like to, you know, kind of address that on an ongoing basis. Perfect. Last question for me. As we approach the resolution or the conclusion of the SIMO arbitration, and you get that in the rearview as Chief Strategy Officer, what's your appetite for new M&A? What are you thinking about tuck-ins, more transformational, just any big picture thoughts as you might look to get back into the business? It is exciting to kind of come to conclusion here and kind of getting this behind us. Our core business, I think most importantly, is now improved. The shift over to infrastructure. So I think the way we're thinking about how do we accelerate that effort. So yes, eventually, I don't think there's anything, you know, tomorrow. But as the balance sheet continues to improve and profitability, you know, improves, yeah, I think we would expect to be back in the market on that side. Perfect. I think we got time, maybe a minute or two for questions from the audience if anyone has a question. Anyone? All right. I know the elevators are always fun here at the palace. So we'll wrap it here and let you get to your next meeting. Thanks, everybody, for joining us.

Speaker 1: Global Growth Conference. My name is Quinn Bolton, and I'm the semiconductor analyst for Needham. It's my pleasure to host this fireside chat with MaxLinear, headquartered in Carlsbad, California. MaxLinear is the leader in market applications. Joining me from the company is Steve Litchfield, Chief Strategy Officer and CFO. We also have Leslie Green in the audience who handles investor relations. Steve, in terms of driving new revenue growth? Global Growth Conference. global growth conference My name is Quinn Bolton, and I'm the semiconductor analyst for Needham. my name is quinn bolton and i'm the semiconductor analyst for needham It's my pleasure to host this fireside chat with MaxLinear, headquartered in Carlsbad, California. it's my pleasure to host this fireside chat with maxlinear headquartered in carlsbad california MaxLinear is the leader in market applications. maxlinear is the leader in market applications Joining me from the company is Steve Litchfield, Chief Strategy Officer and CFO. joining me from the company is steve litchfield chief strategy officer and cfo We also have Leslie Green in the audience who handles investor relations. we also have leslie green in the audience who handles investor relations Steve, in terms of driving new revenue growth? steve in terms of driving new revenue growth

Speaker 2: Sure, sure. Yeah, no, thanks, Quinn. And yeah, so you're right. We have been, I guess it's been about seven years now. Sure, sure. sure sure Yeah, no, thanks, Quinn. yeah no thanks quinn And yeah, so you're right. and yeah so you're right We have been, I guess it's been about seven years now. we have been i guess it's been about seven years now

Speaker 1: Perfect. Data center is pretty hot right now, so I'll sort of jump in with some of the data center questions. Reviewers. Perfect. perfect Data center is pretty hot right now, so I'll sort of jump in with some of the data center questions. data center is pretty hot right now so i'll sort of jump in with some of the data center questions Reviewers. reviewers

Speaker 2: Sure. Yeah. So, I mean, it really kind of ties back to some of the kind of analog RF differentiation that we had in the beginning, the SerDes capability that the companies had. And so, yeah, relatively new, but we're getting a lot of traction with our new Keystone product for 800G, and that's where we're seeing most of the revenues this year. Sure. sure Yeah. yeah So, I mean, it really kind of ties back to some of the kind of analog RF differentiation that we had in the beginning, the SerDes capability that the companies had. so i mean it really kind of ties back to some of the kind of analog rf differentiation that we had in the beginning the serdes capability that the companies had And so, yeah, relatively new, but we're getting a lot of traction with our new Keystone product for 800G, and that's where we're seeing most of the revenues this year. and so yeah relatively new but we're getting a lot of traction with our new keystone product for 800g and that's where we're seeing most of the revenues this year

Speaker 1: Giving you that visibility or confidence that this is going to be a nice growth opportunity. Giving you that visibility or confidence that this is going to be a nice growth opportunity. giving you that visibility or confidence that this is going to be a nice growth opportunity

Speaker 2: Right. Yeah, so I mean, we've been growing the business. It's kind of been really focused around the optical transceivers. Naturally, U.S. hyperscalers are one of the big focus areas, but even just Tier 1, Tier 2 data centers in the U.S., as well as in China, ultimately selling into the data centers, and so that's some relationships that we've developed over the last several years that I think does have some influence, but we got to really. Right. right Yeah, so I mean, we've been growing the business. yeah so i mean we've been growing the business It's kind of been really focused around the optical transceivers. it's kind of been really focused around the optical transceivers Naturally, U.S. hyperscalers are one of the big focus areas, but even just Tier 1, Tier 2 data centers in the U.S., as well as in China, ultimately selling into the data centers, and so that's some relationships that we've developed over the last several years that I think does have some influence, but we got to really. naturally u.s hyperscalers are one of the big focus areas but even just tier 1 tier 2 data centers in the u.s as well as in china ultimately selling into the data centers and so that's some relationships that we've developed over the last several years that i think does have some influence but we got to really

Speaker 1: $25 million to maybe as many as $50 million this year. That's putting some constraints and maybe enabling the semiconductor vendors to sort of pick and choose for guys like the InnoLight, the Coherent, Eoptolink, given this environment where you can become a more important sort of partner to them. $25 million to maybe as many as $50 million this year. $25 million to maybe as many as $50 million this year That's putting some constraints and maybe enabling the semiconductor vendors to sort of pick and choose for guys like the InnoLight, the Coherent, Eoptolink, given this environment where you can become a more important sort of partner to them. that's putting some constraints and maybe enabling the semiconductor vendors to sort of pick and choose for guys like the innolight the coherent eoptolink given this environment where you can become a more important sort of partner to them

Speaker 2: You know, yes, it is helping in general. I think it's, I mean, we get this question a lot. It's like, you know, why do they, you know, we're kind of that third guy. Samsung solution there. So I think that's yet another, you know, I think it kind of validates the strategy there, and customers really like. Are they picking up? Yes. I mean, they were really picking up last year. I mean, we saw that. So I think that's what's driving the revenue this year. I don't think the tightness of supply or anything. Engaged with all the top 10 there. I would say where our efforts are is probably on the top three or four because they're really moving the needle there. You know, yes, it is helping in general. you know yes it is helping in general I think it's, I mean, we get this question a lot. i think it's i mean we get this question a lot It's like, you know, why do they, you know, we're kind of that third guy. it's like you know why do they you know we're kind of that third guy Samsung solution there. samsung solution there So I think that's yet another, you know, I think it kind of validates the strategy there, and customers really like. so i think that's yet another you know i think it kind of validates the strategy there and customers really like Are they picking up? are they picking up Yes. yes I mean, they were really picking up last year. i mean they were really picking up last year I mean, we saw that. i mean we saw that So I think that's what's driving the revenue this year. so i think that's what's driving the revenue this year I don't think the tightness of supply or anything. i don't think the tightness of supply or anything Engaged with all the top 10 there. engaged with all the top 10 there I would say where our efforts are is probably on the top three or four because they're really moving the needle there. i would say where our efforts are is probably on the top three or four because they're really moving the needle there

Speaker 1: I think it's the same advantage, lower power consumption. You mentioned the Samsung foundry relationship, but just sort of, what's your expectations in terms of? I think it's the same advantage, lower power consumption. i think it's the same advantage lower power consumption You mentioned the Samsung foundry relationship, but just sort of, what's your expectations in terms of? you mentioned the samsung foundry relationship but just sort of what's your expectations in terms of

Speaker 2: I think of Q2 a lot like, I mean, those Qualcomm's design wins, if you will, moving to production this year with more of the revenue ramp. I think of Q2 a lot like, I mean, those Qualcomm's design wins, if you will, moving to production this year with more of the revenue ramp. i think of q2 a lot like i mean those qualcomm's design wins if you will moving to production this year with more of the revenue ramp

Speaker 1: I know we're late in the quiet period. I'll ask if you can't answer. Understood. I think you previously talked about sort of DSPs being in the 60-70 million range in calendar 2025 with environment, do you still feel that those are reasonable expectations, or would you rather punt that until earnings? I know we're late in the quiet period. i know we're late in the quiet period I'll ask if you can't answer. i'll ask if you can't answer Understood. understood I think you previously talked about sort of DSPs being in the 60-70 million range in calendar 2025 with environment, do you still feel that those are reasonable expectations, or would you rather punt that until earnings? i think you previously talked about sort of dsps being in the 60-70 million range in calendar 2025 with environment do you still feel that those are reasonable expectations or would you rather punt that until earnings

Speaker 2: Don't mind. I mean, we are excited. Bookings rates have certainly picked up because customers acknowledge, you know, it's tough to get product right now. Don't mind. don't mind I mean, we are excited. i mean we are excited Bookings rates have certainly picked up because customers acknowledge, you know, it's tough to get product right now. bookings rates have certainly picked up because customers acknowledge you know it's tough to get product right now

Speaker 1: I guess if there are perhaps skeptics in the audience. I guess if there are perhaps skeptics in the audience. i guess if there are perhaps skeptics in the audience

Speaker 2: You know, people are placing orders. But I mean, for the optical products, probably 28 weeks. And so we feel good about that. So we've got good visibility and. You know, people are placing orders. you know people are placing orders But I mean, for the optical products, probably 28 weeks. but i mean for the optical products probably 28 weeks And so we feel good about that. and so we feel good about that So we've got good visibility and. so we've got good visibility and

Speaker 1: Last question on the DSP, you know, $100 million plus, hopefully in 2026. Where do you see that going? What's the opportunity, say, over the next two to three years? Last question on the DSP, you know, $100 million plus, hopefully in 2026. last question on the dsp you know $100 million plus hopefully in 2026 Where do you see that going? where do you see that going What's the opportunity, say, over the next two to three years? what's the opportunity say over the next two to three years

Speaker 2: So I think that. I think, can it continue to double? I think it, you know, has the potential to. The market is certainly going in that direction. A couple of. So I think that. so i think that I think, can it continue to double? i think can it continue to double I think it, you know, has the potential to. i think it you know has the potential to The market is certainly going in that direction. the market is certainly going in that direction A couple of. a couple of

Speaker 1: Discuss the products you're selling into each market and sort of MaxLinear's differentiation in access as well as backhaul. Discuss the products you're selling into each market and sort of MaxLinear's differentiation in access as well as backhaul. discuss the products you're selling into each market and sort of maxlinear's differentiation in access as well as backhaul

Speaker 2: Sure. So maybe going back to your original. Start out with the beachhead. That was the modem initially, and we're still really the only merchant modem manufacturer out there. Built that product, sold as well. So the content increase has kind of been two- to threefold in a market that is growing. And you know, even in some of these markets, and I can maybe talk overbuild or you know, big CapEx over the last two years, we've not seen much. I think as we think about 2026, we start to see that recover. Sure. sure So maybe going back to your original. so maybe going back to your original Start out with the beachhead. start out with the beachhead That was the modem initially, and we're still really the only merchant modem manufacturer out there. that was the modem initially and we're still really the only merchant modem manufacturer out there Built that product, sold as well. built that product sold as well So the content increase has kind of been two- to threefold in a market that is growing. so the content increase has kind of been two- to threefold in a market that is growing And you know, even in some of these markets, and I can maybe talk overbuild or you know, big CapEx over the last two years, we've not seen much. and you know even in some of these markets and i can maybe talk overbuild or you know big capex over the last two years we've not seen much I think as we think about 2026, we start to see that recover. i think as we think about 2026 we start to see that recover

Speaker 1: As it grows, does it sort of smooth out and become a little bit more predictable? Or, you know, do you always think it's going to have a little bit of lumpiness to it? As it grows, does it sort of smooth out and become a little bit more predictable? as it grows does it sort of smooth out and become a little bit more predictable Or, you know, do you always think it's going to have a little bit of lumpiness to it? or you know do you always think it's going to have a little bit of lumpiness to it

Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, I've been in. I mean, you know, you talk about access, like the 5G, for example. You know, you'll see the same thing with 6G. But as the markets get a little bit bigger, you can, you know, see hopefully. Yeah. yeah I mean, I've been in. i mean i've been in I mean, you know, you talk about access, like the 5G, for example. i mean you know you talk about access like the 5g for example You know, you'll see the same thing with 6G. you know you'll see the same thing with 6g But as the markets get a little bit bigger, you can, you know, see hopefully. but as the markets get a little bit bigger you can you know see hopefully

Speaker 1: Access and the backhaul business? Access and the backhaul business? access and the backhaul business

Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, we don't break it out specifically. I mean, it's, I think you're familiar. I mean, it's run close to. Yeah, I mean, we don't break it out specifically. yeah i mean we don't break it out specifically I mean, it's, I think you're familiar. i mean it's i think you're familiar I mean, it's run close to. i mean it's run close to

Speaker 1: Secured two design wins on the access side with 5G wins with two major North American telecom providers. Can you give us a sense? Sort of what's the timeline of. Secured two design wins on the access side with 5G wins with two major North American telecom providers. secured two design wins on the access side with 5g wins with two major north american telecom providers Can you give us a sense? can you give us a sense Sort of what's the timeline of. sort of what's the timeline of

Speaker 2: Winning, you know, winning more, those are kind of big lighthouse wins that now others are kind of pointing to, and they're confident that we can, you know. Winning, you know, winning more, those are kind of big lighthouse wins that now others are kind of pointing to, and they're confident that we can, you know. winning you know winning more those are kind of big lighthouse wins that now others are kind of pointing to and they're confident that we can you know

Speaker 1: Where do you see O-RAN traction, you know, kind of relatively in the bigger, you know, 5G range? Where do you see O-RAN traction, you know, kind of relatively in the bigger, you know, 5G range? where do you see o-ran traction you know kind of relatively in the bigger you know 5g range

Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, the Pegatron one's a nice one. It's a good thing, and so we're trying to work with our customers in order to get the message out. But I think it's just a good example of some of the wins that we have with Sierra. I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah yeah yeah I mean, the Pegatron one's a nice one. i mean the pegatron one's a nice one It's a good thing, and so we're trying to work with our customers in order to get the message out. it's a good thing and so we're trying to work with our customers in order to get the message out But I think it's just a good example of some of the wins that we have with Sierra. but i think it's just a good example of some of the wins that we have with sierra I think. i think

Speaker 1: Maybe to wrap up, wireless in general, sounds like the CapEx environment hopefully stabilizing and improving. You've got some of the design wins. You talked about ramping. Maybe to wrap up, wireless in general, sounds like the CapEx environment hopefully stabilizing and improving. maybe to wrap up wireless in general sounds like the capex environment hopefully stabilizing and improving You've got some of the design wins. you've got some of the design wins You talked about ramping. you talked about ramping

Speaker 2: Got better for 26. So I feel like, you know, it's much better here. And finally, we're starting to see some more CapEx dollars flow as well. So I think it'll be accelerator. I mean, it's really an offload capability that we have. So it reduces the need for more CPUs or more cores. Offload capability is more appealing to a lot of customers. The real competitive landscape is the bigger guy there is instead of the QAT solution. So I think that speaks to the capability that we have. But I see us continuing to grow. We recently. But from an architecture standpoint, their customers are going in this direction. And so we certainly want to partner with them. And they're kind of pushing a lot of customers our way. So it's really. Got better for 26. got better for 26 So I feel like, you know, it's much better here. so i feel like you know it's much better here And finally, we're starting to see some more CapEx dollars flow as well. and finally we're starting to see some more capex dollars flow as well So I think it'll be accelerator. so i think it'll be accelerator I mean, it's really an offload capability that we have. i mean it's really an offload capability that we have So it reduces the need for more CPUs or more cores. so it reduces the need for more cpus or more cores Offload capability is more appealing to a lot of customers. offload capability is more appealing to a lot of customers The real competitive landscape is the bigger guy there is instead of the QAT solution. the real competitive landscape is the bigger guy there is instead of the qat solution So I think that speaks to the capability that we have. so i think that speaks to the capability that we have But I see us continuing to grow. but i see us continuing to grow We recently. we recently But from an architecture standpoint, their customers are going in this direction. but from an architecture standpoint their customers are going in this direction And so we certainly want to partner with them. and so we certainly want to partner with them And they're kind of pushing a lot of customers our way. and they're kind of pushing a lot of customers our way So it's really. so it's really

Speaker 1: I mean, I guess, you know, the QAT offering from Intel is running on their CPU cores, right? I mean, I guess, you know, the QAT offering from Intel is running on their CPU cores, right? i mean i guess you know the qat offering from intel is running on their cpu cores right

Speaker 2: Correct. Correct. correct

Speaker 1: So yes, they can do the compression, but you load the cores to do more, hopefully, workloads. So yes, they can do the compression, but you load the cores to do more, hopefully, workloads. so yes they can do the compression but you load the cores to do more hopefully workloads

Speaker 2: That's right. That's right. that's right

Speaker 1: Right. Okay. Right. right Okay. okay

Speaker 2: That's right. That's right. that's right

Speaker 1: You talked about the AMD relationship, I think pretty well, which was one of my questions. I think another. You talked about the AMD relationship, I think pretty well, which was one of my questions. you talked about the amd relationship i think pretty well which was one of my questions I think another. i think another

Speaker 2: People that are doing it, but then as you go further, you're starting to see more data center guys that, you know, want to have that same capability, and so a lot of our engagements now are. People that are doing it, but then as you go further, you're starting to see more data center guys that, you know, want to have that same capability, and so a lot of our engagements now are. people that are doing it but then as you go further you're starting to see more data center guys that you know want to have that same capability and so a lot of our engagements now are

Speaker 1: Cards based on Panther, would they look for you to do the entire card solution? Cards based on Panther, would they look for you to do the entire card solution? cards based on panther would they look for you to do the entire card solution

Speaker 2: Both. I mean, I think there are examples out there where they're doing their own bigger. I would, you know, I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. I mean, I think most of that's going to be consumed by custom silicon. But. Both. both I mean, I think there are examples out there where they're doing their own bigger. i mean i think there are examples out there where they're doing their own bigger I would, you know, I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. i would you know i don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves I mean, I think most of that's going to be consumed by custom silicon. i mean i think most of that's going to be consumed by custom silicon But. but

Speaker 1: Recently introduced, I think it was in the third quarter, your Panther V solution, kind of just equipped Panther V, or I think the last was Panther III. Recently introduced, I think it was in the third quarter, your Panther V solution, kind of just equipped Panther V, or I think the last was Panther III. recently introduced i think it was in the third quarter your panther v solution kind of just equipped panther v or i think the last was panther iii

Speaker 2: Panther 3. That roadmap is evolving, growing. As we get more traction, we're seeing more applications out there, more use cases that want to use the. Over $50-$100 million. Panther 3. panther 3 That roadmap is evolving, growing. that roadmap is evolving growing As we get more traction, we're seeing more applications out there, more use cases that want to use the. as we get more traction we're seeing more applications out there more use cases that want to use the Over $50-$100 million. over $50-$100 million

Speaker 1: Perfect. All right. I think that kind of wraps up my infrastructure questions. Maybe moving on to broadband and 25%-ish growth in broadband and 40%-ish growth in connectivity? Perfect. perfect All right. all right I think that kind of wraps up my infrastructure questions. i think that kind of wraps up my infrastructure questions Maybe moving on to broadband and 25%-ish growth in broadband and 40%-ish growth in connectivity? maybe moving on to broadband and 25%-ish growth in broadband and 40%-ish growth in connectivity

Speaker 2: Yeah. So it's a little bit of everything. Again, that transitional year in. This, Quinn, we, you know, a couple of three years ago, we were doing less than $10 million. That's, you know, upwards of $50-$60 million now. So we're making nice progress there. 2027, not because we don't necessarily guide in these areas. But, you know, as we look into 2026 and 2027, we're starting to see more CapEx dollars really pick up. It's not so much wins, market share gains, you know, PON wins, upgrades on Wi-Fi 7. I mean, there's a number of things that drive improvement over the next couple of. Yeah. yeah So it's a little bit of everything. so it's a little bit of everything Again, that transitional year in. again that transitional year in This, Quinn, we, you know, a couple of three years ago, we were doing less than $10 million. this quinn we you know a couple of three years ago we were doing less than $10 million That's, you know, upwards of $50-$60 million now. that's you know upwards of $50-$60 million now So we're making nice progress there. 2027, not because we don't necessarily guide in these areas. so we're making nice progress there 2027 not because we don't necessarily guide in these areas But, you know, as we look into 2026 and 2027, we're starting to see more CapEx dollars really pick up. but you know as we look into 2026 and 2027 we're starting to see more capex dollars really pick up It's not so much wins, market share gains, you know, PON wins, upgrades on Wi-Fi 7. it's not so much wins market share gains you know pon wins upgrades on wi-fi 7 I mean, there's a number of things that drive improvement over the next couple of. i mean there's a number of things that drive improvement over the next couple of

Speaker 1: Your content gains, how you're feeling about your competitive position relative to Broadcom and DOCSIS 4.0, and maybe the content uplift that you get as DOCSIS 4.0? Your content gains, how you're feeling about your competitive position relative to Broadcom and DOCSIS 4.0, and maybe the content uplift that you get as DOCSIS 4.0? your content gains how you're feeling about your competitive position relative to broadcom and docsis 4.0 and maybe the content uplift that you get as docsis 4.0

Speaker 2: Not sustainable, probably not surprising anyone in the room. That being said, we are winning more market share, as I pointed out on the PON side. And I think you make a really good point on the DOCSIS upgrade. So that's another driver. I mean, we started shipping DOCSIS 4.0 in 2025. It's a small number, but we'll see more of that in 2026 and really probably more in earnest in 2027. We're seeing those upgrades happen now. If you recall, maybe walk through this for everybody, but most of the upgrades to date on DOCSIS 4.0 or even the 3.1 Ultra have been at the head end, the amps, the nodes, you know, the infrastructure piece that has to be built out first. We participate on the CPE side, so the gateway that's in the home. Not sustainable, probably not surprising anyone in the room. not sustainable probably not surprising anyone in the room That being said, we are winning more market share, as I pointed out on the PON side. that being said we are winning more market share as i pointed out on the pon side And I think you make a really good point on the DOCSIS upgrade. and i think you make a really good point on the docsis upgrade So that's another driver. so that's another driver I mean, we started shipping DOCSIS 4.0 in 2025. i mean we started shipping docsis 4.0 in 2025 It's a small number, but we'll see more of that in 2026 and really probably more in earnest in 2027. it's a small number but we'll see more of that in 2026 and really probably more in earnest in 2027 We're seeing those upgrades happen now. we're seeing those upgrades happen now If you recall, maybe walk through this for everybody, but most of the upgrades to date on DOCSIS 4.0 or even the 3.1 Ultra have been at the head end, the amps, the nodes, you know, the infrastructure piece that has to be built out first. if you recall maybe walk through this for everybody but most of the upgrades to date on docsis 4.0 or even the 3.1 ultra have been at the head end the amps the nodes you know the infrastructure piece that has to be built out first We participate on the CPE side, so the gateway that's in the home. we participate on the cpe side so the gateway that's in the home So the way the MSOs typically operate when they roll out these upgrades is they spend all the CapEx, kind of have a set amount of CapEx dollars. They spend that on the front end of it. And then over time, that piece goes down and then the CPE piece goes up. So we'll start to see that in 2026 and follow through in 2027. So I don't think it's huge in 2026, but I think it definitely picks up even more in 2027. And recall that our ASPs are upwards of 40-plus% increase with the DOCSIS 4.0 over DOCSIS 3.1. So the way the MSOs typically operate when they roll out these upgrades is they spend all the CapEx, kind of have a set amount of CapEx dollars. so the way the msos typically operate when they roll out these upgrades is they spend all the capex kind of have a set amount of capex dollars They spend that on the front end of it. they spend that on the front end of it And then over time, that piece goes down and then the CPE piece goes up. and then over time that piece goes down and then the cpe piece goes up So we'll start to see that in 2026 and follow through in 2027. so we'll start to see that in 2026 and follow through in 2027 So I don't think it's huge in 2026, but I think it definitely picks up even more in 2027. so i don't think it's huge in 2026 but i think it definitely picks up even more in 2027 And recall that our ASPs are upwards of 40-plus% increase with the DOCSIS 4.0 over DOCSIS 3.1. and recall that our asps are upwards of 40-plus% increase with the docsis 4.0 over docsis 3.1

Speaker 1: Probably a year plus ago, BEAD funding was sort of thought to be a potential driver. I'll be honest, I haven't heard as much about it recently. Is that still an opportunity? Do you feel that that catalyst may be going away, or do you still think there's some pretty good. Probably a year plus ago, BEAD funding was sort of thought to be a potential driver. probably a year plus ago bead funding was sort of thought to be a potential driver I'll be honest, I haven't heard as much about it recently. i'll be honest i haven't heard as much about it recently Is that still an opportunity? is that still an opportunity Do you feel that that catalyst may be going away, or do you still think there's some pretty good. do you feel that that catalyst may be going away or do you still think there's some pretty good

Speaker 2: Who knows? Who knows? who knows

Speaker 1: I mean, you know, spending that may help. I mean, you know, spending that may help. i mean you know spending that may help

Speaker 2: Joking aside, I mean, yeah, I mean, it was talked about a lot, like I said, maybe a year and a half ago. It really did go away. Yeah, we've heard some of our customers talk about it's driving some of the upside that they're seeing. So yeah, I mean, it sounds like it will get a, you know, we'll see some uplift from that. Joking aside, I mean, yeah, I mean, it was talked about a lot, like I said, maybe a year and a half ago. joking aside i mean yeah i mean it was talked about a lot like i said maybe a year and a half ago It really did go away. it really did go away Yeah, we've heard some of our customers talk about it's driving some of the upside that they're seeing. yeah we've heard some of our customers talk about it's driving some of the upside that they're seeing So yeah, I mean, it sounds like it will get a, you know, we'll see some uplift from that. so yeah i mean it sounds like it will get a you know we'll see some uplift from that

Speaker 1: Okay. You had mentioned on the PON side, and you've talked about this before. You've got a win now, gateway win with a second leading tier one vendor. Can you give us sort of an update? How does that, you know, when does that come to market? I think it's coming relatively soon. How big of a driver of the PON business, you know, is that? Is that going to be a majority of the ramp going forward, or do you have a nice portfolio behind this, you know, this particular win? So it's nice, but it's not. Okay. okay You had mentioned on the PON side, and you've talked about this before. you had mentioned on the pon side and you've talked about this before You've got a win now, gateway win with a second leading tier one vendor. you've got a win now gateway win with a second leading tier one vendor Can you give us sort of an update? can you give us sort of an update How does that, you know, when does that come to market? how does that you know when does that come to market I think it's coming relatively soon. i think it's coming relatively soon How big of a driver of the PON business, you know, is that? how big of a driver of the pon business you know is that Is that going to be a majority of the ramp going forward, or do you have a nice portfolio behind this, you know, this particular win? is that going to be a majority of the ramp going forward or do you have a nice portfolio behind this you know this particular win So it's nice, but it's not. so it's nice but it's not

Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. I mean, look, I think it's. I mean, I mentioned that kind of lighthouse win. I mean, it's the big North America guy. And so it's great. I mean, it's a business that we had never had. It was really our competitor had it 100% for years and years and years. So I think in some respects, it just demonstrates, you know, the customer's interest, willingness to move with our solution. So I think that in itself is big. Others reflect on that as well. They, hey, they've ramped their Wi-Fi 7, they ramped their pod product. With this guy, it really proves, you know, that they are more than capable. So I think it's been helpful from that standpoint. You asked when it ramps. I mean, yeah, it's late Q1 is when we'll start to see it Q2. Yeah, yeah. yeah yeah I mean, look, I think it's. i mean look i think it's I mean, I mentioned that kind of lighthouse win. i mean i mentioned that kind of lighthouse win I mean, it's the big North America guy. i mean it's the big north america guy And so it's great. and so it's great I mean, it's a business that we had never had. i mean it's a business that we had never had It was really our competitor had it 100% for years and years and years. it was really our competitor had it 100% for years and years and years So I think in some respects, it just demonstrates, you know, the customer's interest, willingness to move with our solution. so i think in some respects it just demonstrates you know the customer's interest willingness to move with our solution So I think that in itself is big. so i think that in itself is big Others reflect on that as well. others reflect on that as well They, hey, they've ramped their Wi-Fi 7, they ramped their pod product. they hey they've ramped their wi-fi 7 they ramped their pod product With this guy, it really proves, you know, that they are more than capable. with this guy it really proves you know that they are more than capable So I think it's been helpful from that standpoint. so i think it's been helpful from that standpoint You asked when it ramps. you asked when it ramps I mean, yeah, it's late Q1 is when we'll start to see it Q2. i mean yeah it's late q1 is when we'll start to see it q2 That's our expectation based on the feedback. That's our expectation based on the feedback. that's our expectation based on the feedback

Speaker 1: I know in the cable space, many of the big MSOs will have multiple sources of supply and ODM partners and silicon partners. Is this Tier 1 PON ramp, is that 100% MaxLinear on the next generation platform, or are you just coming as a second supplier to the incumbent? I know in the cable space, many of the big MSOs will have multiple sources of supply and ODM partners and silicon partners. i know in the cable space many of the big msos will have multiple sources of supply and odm partners and silicon partners Is this Tier 1 PON ramp, is that 100% MaxLinear on the next generation platform, or are you just coming as a second supplier to the incumbent? is this tier 1 pon ramp is that 100% maxlinear on the next generation platform or are you just coming as a second supplier to the incumbent

Speaker 2: Yeah. So I mentioned our competitor had 100% of this business, and we were able to take that. I think ultimately they'll end up with two. I think it is headed in that direction. I think we just want to run as fast as we can and consume as many of those products as possible right now. You ask about the other guys. I mean, there's certainly, I mean, globally, there's a lot more opportunities that we are pushing and driving. We're seeing design wins. I mean, I think that's something that, you know, over the last couple of years with broadband, you know, just so depressed and so much inventory out in the channel, I think, you know, a lot of folks have kind of lost sight of market share gains and things like that just because there was inventory sitting in the channel. Yeah. yeah So I mentioned our competitor had 100% of this business, and we were able to take that. so i mentioned our competitor had 100% of this business and we were able to take that I think ultimately they'll end up with two. i think ultimately they'll end up with two I think it is headed in that direction. i think it is headed in that direction I think we just want to run as fast as we can and consume as many of those products as possible right now. i think we just want to run as fast as we can and consume as many of those products as possible right now You ask about the other guys. you ask about the other guys I mean, there's certainly, I mean, globally, there's a lot more opportunities that we are pushing and driving. i mean there's certainly i mean globally there's a lot more opportunities that we are pushing and driving We're seeing design wins. we're seeing design wins I mean, I think that's something that, you know, over the last couple of years with broadband, you know, just so depressed and so much inventory out in the channel, I think, you know, a lot of folks have kind of lost sight of market share gains and things like that just because there was inventory sitting in the channel. i mean i think that's something that you know over the last couple of years with broadband you know just so depressed and so much inventory out in the channel i think you know a lot of folks have kind of lost sight of market share gains and things like that just because there was inventory sitting in the channel And I think what's been encouraging for us as of late is you're seeing a lot more RFPs. We're winning more RFPs. We're winning business that we've never had. And that's exciting, you know, as the recovery happens. And I think what's been encouraging for us as of late is you're seeing a lot more RFPs. and i think what's been encouraging for us as of late is you're seeing a lot more rfps We're winning more RFPs. we're winning more rfps We're winning business that we've never had. we're winning business that we've never had And that's exciting, you know, as the recovery happens. and that's exciting you know as the recovery happens

Speaker 1: Right. Perfect. Maybe just a last question on sort of broadband connectivity. Talk about the 2.5 gigabit Ethernet business. You've got wins with North America OEM on the enterprise side, but just sort of thoughts on the Ethernet ramp. Right. right Perfect. perfect Maybe just a last question on sort of broadband connectivity. maybe just a last question on sort of broadband connectivity Talk about the 2.5 gigabit Ethernet business. talk about the 2.5 gigabit ethernet business You've got wins with North America OEM on the enterprise side, but just sort of thoughts on the Ethernet ramp. you've got wins with north america oem on the enterprise side but just sort of thoughts on the ethernet ramp

Speaker 2: Yeah. So Ethernet's another nice, I call it, I mean, it's a product line. It's a great product line. It goes up against a couple of peers that aren't super focused around two and a half gig. And so we've got something that is really differentiated. It's on our gateways, but I think to some degree, a little more exciting than that is the broadening out of our two and a half gig offering. We're winning on enterprise. There's a lot of enterprise switches that need two and a half gig. There's a lot of industrial applications, small business applications that we're winning on. That goes well beyond broadband, as you know. And there's what, a billion plus ports out there of one gig SFP's and switches that are going to upgrade to two and a half gig. Yeah. yeah So Ethernet's another nice, I call it, I mean, it's a product line. so ethernet's another nice i call it i mean it's a product line It's a great product line. It goes up against a couple of peers that aren't super focused around two and a half gig. it's a great product line. it goes up against a couple of peers that aren't super focused around two and a half gig And so we've got something that is really differentiated. and so we've got something that is really differentiated It's on our gateways, but I think to some degree, a little more exciting than that is the broadening out of our two and a half gig offering. it's on our gateways but i think to some degree a little more exciting than that is the broadening out of our two and a half gig offering We're winning on enterprise. we're winning on enterprise There's a lot of enterprise switches that need two and a half gig. there's a lot of enterprise switches that need two and a half gig There's a lot of industrial applications, small business applications that we're winning on. there's a lot of industrial applications small business applications that we're winning on That goes well beyond broadband, as you know. that goes well beyond broadband as you know And there's what, a billion plus ports out there of one gig SFP's and switches that are going to upgrade to two and a half gig. and there's what a billion plus ports out there of one gig sfp's and switches that are going to upgrade to two and a half gig And so the more of those we just continue to win, you know, we'll continue to see revenue. And so the more of those we just continue to win, you know, we'll continue to see revenue. and so the more of those we just continue to win you know we'll continue to see revenue

Speaker 1: Sounds like it can be a nice long tail kind of business. Sounds like it can be a nice long tail kind of business. sounds like it can be a nice long tail kind of business

Speaker 2: Absolutely. Absolutely. absolutely

Speaker 1: Okay. Okay. okay

Speaker 2: Absolutely. Absolutely. absolutely

Speaker 1: Industrial and multi-market was a tougher market for you in 2025. I think we estimate it down about 50% in the year. Discuss some of the headwinds you saw last year, and do you think, you know, as we go into 2026, are those headwinds beginning to abate? Industrial and multi-market was a tougher market for you in 2025. industrial and multi-market was a tougher market for you in 2025 I think we estimate it down about 50% in the year. i think we estimate it down about 50% in the year Discuss some of the headwinds you saw last year, and do you think, you know, as we go into 2026, are those headwinds beginning to abate? discuss some of the headwinds you saw last year and do you think you know as we go into 2026 are those headwinds beginning to abate

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, so 2025 was a tough year, the first half of the year even. So a fair amount of this goes into China. And we saw a lot of pricing pressure in China. We also had some export control challenges as well, which the year-over-year numbers anyway reflect that in 2025. So that was a headwind. I think no more export control issues. Knock on, I mean, when I say that, yes, there will be more export control issues. But with regard to these product lines, we don't have licenses. And that was the problem last year. Now, could they put more people on the Entity List? I mean, they could. On the pricing side, which I would say probably had the bigger hit to us, I mean, pricing just went way down. There were a few areas where we just kind of chose not to participate. Yeah. yeah Yeah, so 2025 was a tough year, the first half of the year even. yeah so 2025 was a tough year the first half of the year even So a fair amount of this goes into China. so a fair amount of this goes into china And we saw a lot of pricing pressure in China. and we saw a lot of pricing pressure in china We also had some export control challenges as well, which the year-over-year numbers anyway reflect that in 2025. we also had some export control challenges as well which the year-over-year numbers anyway reflect that in 2025 So that was a headwind. so that was a headwind I think no more export control issues. i think no more export control issues Knock on, I mean, when I say that, yes, there will be more export control issues. knock on i mean when i say that yes there will be more export control issues But with regard to these product lines, we don't have licenses. but with regard to these product lines we don't have licenses And that was the problem last year. and that was the problem last year Now, could they put more people on the Entity List? now could they put more people on the entity list I mean, they could. i mean they could On the pricing side, which I would say probably had the bigger hit to us, I mean, pricing just went way down. on the pricing side which i would say probably had the bigger hit to us i mean pricing just went way down There were a few areas where we just kind of chose not to participate. there were a few areas where we just kind of chose not to participate I think you're seeing this from some of our peers now that have chosen to raise prices pretty aggressively. I think that's, you know, kind of acknowledging there's certain places in the market where there is some low-end China supply, and they can certainly push that. I think a big chunk of the market, I would argue maybe even the majority of the market, they don't have that solution. And so I think our approach has been good in that, you know, hold the line on pricing, don't compete where, you know, kind of in the mud. And that's not the place we want to be. We want to stay on the higher end. We want to stay in these markets. We're not going away. So all in, I think things have kind of stabilized. I think you're seeing this from some of our peers now that have chosen to raise prices pretty aggressively. i think you're seeing this from some of our peers now that have chosen to raise prices pretty aggressively I think that's, you know, kind of acknowledging there's certain places in the market where there is some low-end China supply, and they can certainly push that. i think that's you know kind of acknowledging there's certain places in the market where there is some low-end china supply and they can certainly push that I think a big chunk of the market, I would argue maybe even the majority of the market, they don't have that solution. i think a big chunk of the market i would argue maybe even the majority of the market they don't have that solution And so I think our approach has been good in that, you know, hold the line on pricing, don't compete where, you know, kind of in the mud. and so i think our approach has been good in that you know hold the line on pricing don't compete where you know kind of in the mud And that's not the place we want to be. and that's not the place we want to be We want to stay on the higher end. we want to stay on the higher end We want to stay in these markets. we want to stay in these markets We're not going away. we're not going away So all in, I think things have kind of stabilized. so all in i think things have kind of stabilized I think we'll get back to kind of a somewhat normalized, you know, 4%, 5%, kind of mid-single digit growth this year. I think we'll get back to kind of a somewhat normalized, you know, 4%, 5%, kind of mid-single digit growth this year. i think we'll get back to kind of a somewhat normalized you know 4% 5% kind of mid-single digit growth this year

Speaker 1: Okay. You had mentioned that the price declines. I think both Texas Instruments and, I know, Analog Devices has been vocal about raising channel pricing effective February 1st. Sounds like that is sort of helping the outlook for the business, at least on a pricing front. Okay. okay You had mentioned that the price declines. you had mentioned that the price declines I think both Texas Instruments and, I know, Analog Devices has been vocal about raising channel pricing effective February 1st. i think both texas instruments and i know analog devices has been vocal about raising channel pricing effective february 1st Sounds like that is sort of helping the outlook for the business, at least on a pricing front. sounds like that is sort of helping the outlook for the business at least on a pricing front

Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, you know, so having gone through this last year, and I mean, we, you know, also chose to kind of hold the line. No, we weren't necessarily raising prices, but we weren't going to just kind of go down in the mud with everyone else. And I think TI and ADI did come out and ultimately raise. And so, yeah, that's certainly been helpful. Yeah. yeah I mean, you know, so having gone through this last year, and I mean, we, you know, also chose to kind of hold the line. i mean you know so having gone through this last year and i mean we you know also chose to kind of hold the line No, we weren't necessarily raising prices, but we weren't going to just kind of go down in the mud with everyone else. no we weren't necessarily raising prices but we weren't going to just kind of go down in the mud with everyone else And I think TI and ADI did come out and ultimately raise. and i think ti and adi did come out and ultimately raise And so, yeah, that's certainly been helpful. and so yeah that's certainly been helpful

Speaker 1: Got it. Just moving to the last few general questions. You know, as you think about the mix shift over the next few years to the infrastructure businesses, how does that change the gross margin profile of the business? Got it. got it Just moving to the last few general questions. just moving to the last few general questions You know, as you think about the mix shift over the next few years to the infrastructure businesses, how does that change the gross margin profile of the business? you know as you think about the mix shift over the next few years to the infrastructure businesses how does that change the gross margin profile of the business

Speaker 2: Yeah. Generally favorable. Our infrastructure business runs a little higher than the corporate average. Not a ton higher, but certainly higher. And so I think you'll, I mean, I think you're familiar, Quinn, but our gross margins kind of ticked down over the last, what, two years as revenues came down. The mix kind of worked against us. That's starting to turn the other direction. So we're making some progress. I expect this year, you know, hopefully we're going to end the year starting with a six instead of a five. So that'll be good. And as more infrastructure growth that we see, you know, hopefully we can start to move that up even further. Yeah. yeah Generally favorable. generally favorable Our infrastructure business runs a little higher than the corporate average. our infrastructure business runs a little higher than the corporate average Not a ton higher, but certainly higher. not a ton higher but certainly higher And so I think you'll, I mean, I think you're familiar, Quinn, but our gross margins kind of ticked down over the last, what, two years as revenues came down. and so i think you'll i mean i think you're familiar quinn but our gross margins kind of ticked down over the last what two years as revenues came down The mix kind of worked against us. the mix kind of worked against us That's starting to turn the other direction. that's starting to turn the other direction So we're making some progress. so we're making some progress I expect this year, you know, hopefully we're going to end the year starting with a six instead of a five. i expect this year you know hopefully we're going to end the year starting with a six instead of a five So that'll be good. so that'll be good And as more infrastructure growth that we see, you know, hopefully we can start to move that up even further. and as more infrastructure growth that we see you know hopefully we can start to move that up even further

Speaker 1: Perfect. What's your approach as the business begins to recover to managing OpEx? I know through the downturn, you took a lot of OpEx offline. Some of that was because you had ended some big projects like Wi-Fi 7 and optical DSP. Well, you're probably going to continue to spend on optical DSP, but there were a number of platforms that you sort of, you know, got through the project and so you didn't need to repeat that spending. But as revenue rebounds in 2026 and beyond, how do you think about managing OpEx? You know, is there any sort of guidance you can give for investors? Perfect. perfect What's your approach as the business begins to recover to managing OpEx? what's your approach as the business begins to recover to managing opex I know through the downturn, you took a lot of OpEx offline. i know through the downturn you took a lot of opex offline Some of that was because you had ended some big projects like Wi-Fi 7 and optical DSP. some of that was because you had ended some big projects like wi-fi 7 and optical dsp Well, you're probably going to continue to spend on optical DSP, but there were a number of platforms that you sort of, you know, got through the project and so you didn't need to repeat that spending. well you're probably going to continue to spend on optical dsp but there were a number of platforms that you sort of you know got through the project and so you didn't need to repeat that spending But as revenue rebounds in 2026 and beyond, how do you think about managing OpEx? but as revenue rebounds in 2026 and beyond how do you think about managing opex You know, is there any sort of guidance you can give for investors? you know is there any sort of guidance you can give for investors

Speaker 2: So I mean, our general guideline here is to grow the OpEx at about half the rate of the top line. That's kind of a general parameter that we look at. I think as I look at 2026, you're right, Quinn, we caught about 20 plus, a little over 20% of the OpEx going back about a year and a half ago now. That took us about six months to kind of all play out. But you're right, some of that was because there was some heavy lift on the Rushmore product and a few, Wi-Fi 7, a few other projects that have kind of come down. I think we're really more into steady state at this point. So I don't feel like we need some big step up in OpEx. So I mean, our general guideline here is to grow the OpEx at about half the rate of the top line. so i mean our general guideline here is to grow the opex at about half the rate of the top line That's kind of a general parameter that we look at. that's kind of a general parameter that we look at I think as I look at 2026, you're right, Quinn, we caught about 20 plus, a little over 20% of the OpEx going back about a year and a half ago now. i think as i look at 2026 you're right quinn we caught about 20 plus a little over 20% of the opex going back about a year and a half ago now That took us about six months to kind of all play out. that took us about six months to kind of all play out But you're right, some of that was because there was some heavy lift on the Rushmore product and a few, Wi-Fi 7, a few other projects that have kind of come down. but you're right some of that was because there was some heavy lift on the rushmore product and a few wi-fi 7 a few other projects that have kind of come down I think we're really more into steady state at this point. i think we're really more into steady state at this point So I don't feel like we need some big step up in OpEx. so i don't feel like we need some big step up in opex I think this year, I mean, you're likely. Investors likely see you start to see some more leverage in the model and kind of getting back to some of the operating margin profiles that we'd seen in the past and what we had expected, that we expected MaxLinear. I think this year, I mean, you're likely. i think this year i mean you're likely Investors likely see you start to see some more leverage in the model and kind of getting back to some of the operating margin profiles that we'd seen in the past and what we had expected, that we expected MaxLinear. investors likely see you start to see some more leverage in the model and kind of getting back to some of the operating margin profiles that we'd seen in the past and what we had expected that we expected maxlinear

Speaker 1: Perfect. I'll ask, I know you're very limited in what you could say on Silicon Motion, but just sort of updated thoughts or just reiterate your thoughts on timing as to when that reaches a conclusion. Perfect. perfect I'll ask, I know you're very limited in what you could say on Silicon Motion, but just sort of updated thoughts or just reiterate your thoughts on timing as to when that reaches a conclusion. i'll ask i know you're very limited in what you could say on silicon motion but just sort of updated thoughts or just reiterate your thoughts on timing as to when that reaches a conclusion

Speaker 2: Yeah. No change here. Arbitration started in Q4 in October. Would expect to have some resolution mid-year. Yeah. yeah No change here. no change here Arbitration started in Q4 in October. arbitration started in q4 in october Would expect to have some resolution mid-year. would expect to have some resolution mid-year

Speaker 1: Okay. We've gotten some questions from investors in advance of that resolution. The company announced a $75 million buyback in November. Obviously, it seems like a positive signal. Maybe just talk through the rationale for the timing and what's driving that buyback. Okay. okay We've gotten some questions from investors in advance of that resolution. we've gotten some questions from investors in advance of that resolution The company announced a $75 million buyback in November. the company announced a $75 million buyback in november Obviously, it seems like a positive signal. obviously it seems like a positive signal Maybe just talk through the rationale for the timing and what's driving that buyback. maybe just talk through the rationale for the timing and what's driving that buyback

Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I mean, I think the board just kind of felt pretty straightforward. I mean, you know, stock trading where it is, the company, I mean, having gone through the last couple of years, really correcting the OpEx, had a big cut on the OpEx side. Our outlook on the revenue side is much better, much stable, much more certain. I mean, I mentioned the visibility that we have. So I think between the visibility that we have on the revenue side, the profit increases that we expect to see this year, the cash position improvement, you know, dramatically different than, say, 18 months ago. And so I think the board feels better about that. Stock where it is, hey, they want to kind of, you know, show that to investors. And ultimately, I mean, we've had buybacks in place before. Yeah. yeah Look, I mean, I think the board just kind of felt pretty straightforward. look i mean i think the board just kind of felt pretty straightforward I mean, you know, stock trading where it is, the company, I mean, having gone through the last couple of years, really correcting the OpEx, had a big cut on the OpEx side. i mean you know stock trading where it is the company i mean having gone through the last couple of years really correcting the opex had a big cut on the opex side Our outlook on the revenue side is much better, much stable, much more certain. our outlook on the revenue side is much better much stable much more certain I mean, I mentioned the visibility that we have. i mean i mentioned the visibility that we have So I think between the visibility that we have on the revenue side, the profit increases that we expect to see this year, the cash position improvement, you know, dramatically different than, say, 18 months ago. so i think between the visibility that we have on the revenue side the profit increases that we expect to see this year the cash position improvement you know dramatically different than say 18 months ago And so I think the board feels better about that. and so i think the board feels better about that Stock where it is, hey, they want to kind of, you know, show that to investors. stock where it is hey they want to kind of you know show that to investors And ultimately, I mean, we've had buybacks in place before. and ultimately i mean we've had buybacks in place before The idea of kind of offsetting some of the dilution that we have just for employees, we'd like to, you know, kind of address that on an ongoing basis. The idea of kind of offsetting some of the dilution that we have just for employees, we'd like to, you know, kind of address that on an ongoing basis. the idea of kind of offsetting some of the dilution that we have just for employees we'd like to you know kind of address that on an ongoing basis

Speaker 1: Perfect. Last question for me. As we approach the resolution or the conclusion of the SIMO arbitration, and you get that in the rearview as Chief Strategy Officer, what's your appetite for new M&A? What are you thinking about tuck-ins, more transformational, just any big picture thoughts as you might look to get back into the business? Perfect. perfect Last question for me. last question for me As we approach the resolution or the conclusion of the SIMO arbitration, and you get that in the rearview as Chief Strategy Officer, what's your appetite for new M&A? as we approach the resolution or the conclusion of the simo arbitration and you get that in the rearview as chief strategy officer what's your appetite for new m&a What are you thinking about tuck-ins, more transformational, just any big picture thoughts as you might look to get back into the business? what are you thinking about tuck-ins more transformational just any big picture thoughts as you might look to get back into the business

Speaker 2: It is exciting to kind of come to conclusion here and kind of getting this behind us. Our core business, I think most importantly, is now improved. The shift over to infrastructure. So I think the way we're thinking about how do we accelerate that effort. So yes, eventually, I don't think there's anything, you know, tomorrow. But as the balance sheet continues to improve and profitability, you know, improves, yeah, I think we would expect to be back in the market on that side. It is exciting to kind of come to conclusion here and kind of getting this behind us. it is exciting to kind of come to conclusion here and kind of getting this behind us Our core business, I think most importantly, is now improved. our core business i think most importantly is now improved The shift over to infrastructure. the shift over to infrastructure So I think the way we're thinking about how do we accelerate that effort. so i think the way we're thinking about how do we accelerate that effort So yes, eventually, I don't think there's anything, you know, tomorrow. so yes eventually i don't think there's anything you know tomorrow But as the balance sheet continues to improve and profitability, you know, improves, yeah, I think we would expect to be back in the market on that side. but as the balance sheet continues to improve and profitability you know improves yeah i think we would expect to be back in the market on that side

Speaker 1: Perfect. I think we got time, maybe a minute or two for questions from the audience if anyone has a question. Anyone? All right. I know the elevators are always fun here at the palace. So we'll wrap it here and let you get to your next meeting. Thanks, everybody, for joining us. Perfect. perfect I think we got time, maybe a minute or two for questions from the audience if anyone has a question. i think we got time maybe a minute or two for questions from the audience if anyone has a question Anyone? anyone All right. all right I know the elevators are always fun here at the palace. i know the elevators are always fun here at the palace So we'll wrap it here and let you get to your next meeting. so we'll wrap it here and let you get to your next meeting Thanks, everybody, for joining us. thanks everybody for joining us