This chip stock is surging. It may be a play on SpaceX's growth.

By William Gavin

Macom Technology Solutions has called out various ways it can cash in on the boom in low-Earth-orbit satellites

SpaceX says it provides satellite-internet service to more than 9 million customers.

Investors looking for a publicly traded way to play SpaceX's growth may have found one in the chip sector.

Shares of Macom Technology Solutions (MTSI), which makes semiconductors that enable high-speed data transmission over fiber optics, rose 13% in Monday trading. Over the last 12 months, the Lowell, Mass.-based company's stock has climbed 51%.

Mizuho trading-desk analyst Jordan Klein said in a note to clients Monday that in his view, "more investors are seeking exposure and leverage to growth in satellites" and see Macom as a way to do that. In a previous note, Klein, whose firm doesn't cover Macom, said the company defines the meaning of "underpromise and overdeliver."

In that earlier note, he called the company a "key beneficiary" of satellite-network investments and broader growth in artificial-intelligence-related optical and copper spending.

Read more: 10 stocks that let you invest like Nvidia in the next hot AI trade

Monday's gains come just days after the Federal Communications Commission authorized SpaceX to deploy and operate up to 15,000 second-generation Starlink satellites to provide direct-to-cell connectivity around the world. The U.S. agency also said it would allow SpaceX to upgrade the satellites and operate across five frequencies, while waiving a few requirements that it called "obsolete."

"This FCC authorization is a game-changer for enabling next-generation services," FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement on Friday, adding that the agency has "given SpaceX the green light to deliver unprecedented satellite broadband capabilities" and boost competition.

SpaceX had sought approval to launch up to 30,000 units, but the FCC said it would defer authorizing additional launches. Overall, SpaceX has 9,451 satellites currently in low-Earth orbit, or LEO, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer who tracks space launches on his website.

As of 2025, SpaceX has launched more than 3,000 V2 Mini satellites into orbit, according to its latest annual progress report. The company said those satellites are lighter and more reliable and provide better service than the previous generation.

The company also says it provides satellite-internet service to more than 9 million customers in 155 countries and markets. Through partnerships with mobile-network operators, Starlink provided direct-to-consumer services to 6 million monthly customers as of 2025.

Also read: AST SpaceMobile and Starlink may prove friend, not foe, to these wireless stocks

SpaceX isn't alone, either. AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) and Amazon's (AMZN) LEO division are just two of nearly a dozen companies exploring LEO constellations supporting DTC or direct-to-device communications, according to Macom's count.

"These LEO constellations have many areas where Macom can contribute," CEO Stephen Daly said on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call in November.

"Depending on the customer preferences and capabilities, we position ourselves to support them at any level in the supply chain, from foundry services, custom IC design, standard products and even full module and subsystem design and manufacturing," he added, referring to integrated circuits.

Separately, Macom on Monday announced that former Broadcom (AVGO) executive Bryan Ingram would join its board of directors. Ingram was an executive overseeing Avago Technologies' wireless semiconductor business for over a decade, and after Avago merged with Broadcom in 2016, he stayed on at the company through early 2020.

Now read: SpaceX, Anthropic and 4 more companies that could make an IPO splash in 2026

-William Gavin

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-12-26 1633ET