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Navitas vs onsemi: Which Stock Wins the AI Power Infrastructure Race?

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Key Takeaways

  • NVTS is up 222% YTD but trades near 98x forward sales versus ON around 6.4x.
  • Navitas logged $8.6M in Q1 revenues and guided around $10M for Q2; still deeply unprofitable.
  • ON's AI data-center revenues rose over 30% sequentially in Q1; gross margin hit 38.5%.

As artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping data center infrastructure, power semiconductors have emerged as one of the market’s hottest battlegrounds. That has pushed shares of ON Semiconductor (ON - Free Report) and Navitas Semiconductor (NVTS - Free Report) sharply higher, with the latter soaring 222% year to date and the former gaining 103.5%.

Both companies are riding the trend toward higher-voltage, energy-efficient AI power architectures. Their gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) chips help deliver faster switching speeds, lower heat and better power efficiency than traditional silicon solutions.

But while onsemi is a profitable industry heavyweight (with a market cap of roughly $43 billion), Navitas (with a market cap of just over $5 billion) is an emerging growth story. So, which stock offers the better AI infrastructure opportunity today? Let’s break it down.

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The Case for Navitas

Navitas has quickly become one of the market’s most aggressive AI power infrastructure plays. The company is benefiting from rising demand for next-generation data centers and grid upgrades as AI workloads require far more efficient power delivery systems. In the first quarter of 2026, Navitas’ combined AI infrastructure business grew 50% sequentially. Management believes the opportunity is still in the early innings, with the AI data center market alone representing a potential $1.4 billion to $2.5 billion serviceable market by 2030.

Navitas is also strengthening its position through new AI-focused products, including a 20 kW 800V-to-6V GaNFast power delivery board for AI data centers and a 250-kW solid-state transformer solution aimed at next-generation grid infrastructure. The company also expanded its fifth-generation 1200V SiC MOSFET lineup with compact packages designed for higher-density AI power systems.

One of the biggest catalysts for the stock is its relationship with NVIDIA. Last year, Navitas was selected as a power semiconductor partner for NVIDIA’s next-generation 800V HVDC data center architecture and recently showcased its 800V-to-6V DC-DC power delivery board at NVIDIA GTC. That gives Navitas valuable credibility in one of the fastest-growing areas of semiconductor spending.

At the same time, the company is reshaping its business mix. Navitas is moving away from lower-margin mobile and consumer markets and focusing more heavily on industrial and AI-driven applications.

Still, the risks remain substantial. Navitas is operating at a very small scale, generating just $8.6 million in first-quarter revenues, with second-quarter guidance pointing to only around $10 million in sales. The company is also deeply unprofitable, and management suggested it may need quarterly revenues in the high-$30 million range before reaching operating profitability. That leaves little room for execution mistakes, especially if AI infrastructure spending cools or customer deployments take longer than expected.

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The Case for onsemi

onsemi brings something many investors value even more in today’s market — scale, profitability and proven execution. The company has steadily repositioned itself from a broad commodity-chip supplier into a focused power and sensing semiconductor player serving high-growth markets such as EVs, industrial automation, energy infrastructure and AI data centers. That shift is now helping ON gain traction in AI power systems, where demand is rising for efficient power-management chips used across hyperscale data centers, AI servers and next-generation power architectures.

ON’s AI data-center revenues jumped more than 30% sequentially in the first quarter and are expected to double year over year in 2026. Growth is being driven by programs spanning uninterruptible power supplies, intermediate bus conversion and backup power systems. The company also noted engagements with major hyperscalers and multiple XPU vendors, reinforcing confidence that it is becoming deeply embedded in the AI infrastructure ecosystem.

onsemi is also scaling its AI-specific portfolio aggressively through its Treo platform. The company doubled the number of AI data center products sampled year over year in 2025. ON has expanded its design funnel to more than $1.5 billion. onsemi’s acquisition of VCore assets has strengthened its AI data-center offerings. Like Navitas, ON participates across multiple stages of data-center power conversion. The difference is that ON is already doing it at a meaningful scale with established customers.

Profitability is another major advantage. Gross margin expanded for the third consecutive quarter to 38.5% in the first-quarter of 2026. Management expects margins to improve further through 2026 as factory utilization rises, manufacturing efficiencies improve and higher-margin products become a larger part of the revenue mix.

While automotive and industrial markets still dominate onsemi’s revenues, it offers diversification that reduces dependence on the AI infrastructure cycle or the pace of adoption. onsemi has established businesses that provide stability and cash flow even if AI spending slows.

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Valuation Check: onsemi vs. Navitas

Navitas trades at an extremely rich forward price-to-sales multiple of roughly 98, suggesting investors are already pricing in years of aggressive AI-driven growth. That leaves little room for execution missteps and makes the stock highly sensitive to any slowdown in AI infrastructure spending or delays in customer ramps.

onsemi, by comparison, trades at a far more reasonable price-to-sales ratio of around 6.4. While ON may not deliver the same explosive upside as Navitas in a best-case AI scenario, its valuation looks far easier to justify given the profitability, scale, and diversified revenue base.

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Our Take

Navitas is undeniably an exciting AI infrastructure story. Its NVIDIA partnership is meaningful and the long-term opportunity in 800V HVDC architectures could be massive. But the stock already prices in years of near-perfect execution. Trading at roughly 98 times forward sales with less than $50 million in annual revenues, Navitas is a highly speculative bet where even small execution missteps could trigger sharp downside. After its enormous rally, NVTS looks more like a sell. Navitas carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

onsemi, by contrast, is delivering well. AI data-center revenues are accelerating, margins are expanding and the company has the scale, profitability and customer relationships to benefit from AI power demand without depending on a single architectural shift. onsemi offers the growth, technology, sustainable execution and financial resilience needed to compound through a volatile AI infrastructure cycle. For long-term investors, onsemi remains the clear buy. ON stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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