
Activist investor Starboard Value has acquired a 7.7% stake in Qorvo, a NASDAQ-listed maker of radio frequency and power semiconductors.
The acquisition comes as Qorvo grapples with stiff competition and slowing orders for its smartphone chips, reported Reuters.
Based in North Carolina, the company, a supplier to Apple, faces challenges as consumers shift towards entry-tier smartphones, while competitors such as Broadcom and Qualcomm benefit from a recovery in the Chinese smartphone market.
In a regulatory filing, Qorvo disclosed that Starboard held 7.29 million shares of the company, equating to a 7.7% stake.
At a 16 January 2025 closing price of $73.59, this ownership is valued at about $536m.
The hedge fund, led by Jeffrey Smith, is known for its activism and has previously pushed for changes at companies like Pfizer and Salesforce.
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By GlobalDataFor the fiscal 2025 second quarter ending 28 September 2024, Qorvo reported a net loss of $17.4m.
The company’s revenue for the same period was $1.04bn, a decline from $1.10bn in 2024.
Qorvo’s outlook for the third quarter anticipates quarterly revenue of approximately $900m, with a margin of $25m.
Its shares fell over 37% last year, underperforming its peers.
This decline was partly due to a softer economy and slower adoption of artificial intelligence, a key growth driver for many chipmakers.
At the time, Qorvo CFO Grant Brown said: “We are taking appropriate actions, including factory consolidation and operating expense reductions as well as focusing on opportunities that align with our long-term profitability objectives. We currently expect full-year fiscal 2025 revenue and gross margin will be slightly down versus fiscal 2024.”
In January 2024, Qorvo reached a definitive agreement to acquire Anokiwave, a supplier of silicon integrated circuits for intelligent active array antennas used in defence, satellite communications, and 5G applications.
Anokiwave, based in Boston, Massachusetts, operates design centres and sales offices in Boston and San Diego, California.