MXL vs. VICR: Which Has the Better AI Infrastructure Opportunity?

MaxLinear MXL and Vicor VICR both stand to benefit from accelerating AI infrastructure spending, but they address different bottlenecks inside the data center. MaxLinear is primarily exposed to the connectivity side of AI infrastructure through high-speed optical and electrical interconnects, while Vicor focuses on power delivery for increasingly power-dense AI processors. 

So, MXL or VICR, which is a better buy under the current scenario?

The Case for MaxLinear

MaxLinear currently has the more visible AI revenue ramp. In the second quarter of 2026, revenues jumped 55% year over year to $168.8 million, while Infrastructure revenues surged 145% to $85 million and represented roughly half of total revenues. The year-over-year growth was driven primarily by higher shipments of optical, high-performance analog and wireless-backhaul products. Infrastructure has become MXL’s largest revenue category, led by high-speed optical interconnect demand.

The company’s AI opportunity is already moving beyond a single product. Keystone, MaxLinear’s 100G-per-lane PAM4 (Pulse Amplitude Modulation 4-Level) DSP (Digital Signal Processor), is in high-volume production at major U.S. and Asian hyperscalers for 400G and 800G deployments. MaxLinear expects the 1.6T Rushmore PAM4 DSP to become an important growth driver beginning in 2027. Washington expands MaxLinear into 200G-per-lane TIAs, while Annapurna targets 1.6T active electrical cables and onboard retimers used for low-latency AI scale-up connectivity. Washington and Annapurna are expected to begin generating revenues in 2027, followed by a more meaningful ramp in 2028.

MaxLinear is also gaining AI content beyond optical connectivity. The company has completed qualification of an XGS-PON hyperscaler design for data-center control-plane applications and secured USB bridge-controller wins at two major hyperscalers for AI rack management. MXL’s Panther storage accelerators address CPU, memory and storage bottlenecks, with revenues expected to roughly double in 2026 and potentially nearly double again in 2027. This combination of optics, electrical interconnects, storage, rack management and power-management products gives MXL several ways to increase content per AI rack.

The Case for Vicor

Vicor's AI opportunity centers on solving another critical constraint, supplying large amounts of power to increasingly dense GPUs, TPUs and other accelerators. Advanced Products generated $94.2 million in the second quarter of 2026, up 45% sequentially, and accounted for 65.7% of revenues. Advanced Products sales are currently concentrated in data-center and hyperscaler applications, including power delivery on server motherboards, inside racks and across data-center infrastructure. The company also identifies AI processor acceleration as an important market for its power technology.

Vicor is leveraging second-generation Vertical Power Delivery (VPD) architecture to drive growth. The company targets current gain above 40 and current density of as much as 5 amps per square millimeter, addressing the rising power-density requirements of AI systems. However, the technology remains earlier in its commercialization curve than MaxLinear’s Keystone platform. Vicor has completed an initial chipset for its lead customer at roughly 3 amps per square millimeter and is completing demonstration systems, while targeting more than 4 amps per square millimeter around late 2026 or early 2027. Broader hyperscaler and OEM design wins therefore represent substantial upside, but their timing is still less certain.

Vicor nevertheless has strong demand indicators and a considerably stronger balance sheet. Backlog reached approximately $380 million in the second quarter of 2026, rising 26% sequentially and 145% year over year. Cash stood at $453.6 million, while operating cash flow totaled $34 million in the reported quarter. Rising high-performance computing and AI-related demand is bringing the first ChiP fabrication facility toward full utilization, prompting Vicor to prepare for additional manufacturing capacity.

MXL & VICR’s Earnings Estimate Revisions Steady

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MaxLinear’s 2026 earnings is pegged at $1.74 per share, unchanged over the past 30 days. MXL reported earnings of 31 cents per share in 2025.
 

The consensus mark for VICR’s 2026 earnings has been steady at $3.12 per share over the past 30 days and suggests 19.54% growth from the figure reported in 2025.

Stock Price Performance and Valuation

MXL shares have returned 263.9% year to date, outperforming Vicor’s appreciation of 85.8%.

Price Performance: MXL vs. VICR
 

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Valuation-wise, shares of both MXL and VICR are overvalued. In terms of trailing 12-month EV/sales, MaxLinear shares are trading at 10.21X, lower than Vicor’s 18.85X.

Both MaxLinear and Vicor have a Value Score of F.

MXL and VICR Valuation

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Conclusion: MXL Has the Edge

MaxLinear appears better positioned to capture the AI infrastructure boom in the near to medium term. Vicor offers compelling long-term upside from second-generation VPD and has the stronger balance sheet, but its biggest AI catalyst is still moving through development, customer evaluation and eventual production ramps. MXL already has meaningful AI-driven revenues, high-volume hyperscaler deployments and a broader pipeline spanning 800G, 1.6T, electrical scale-up, rack management and storage. The combination of stronger current AI revenue growth and multiple identifiable product ramps through 2027-2028 gives MXL the edge over VICR, albeit with higher customer concentration and balance-sheet risk.

MaxLinear and Vicor currently carry Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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