NEW YORK, May 20, 2026, 14:05 (EDT)
Navitas Semiconductor shares jumped more than 15% in Wednesday afternoon trading, extending a volatile run in the power-chip name as investors crowded back into semiconductor stocks before Nvidia’s results. The stock was recently at $22.49, after touching $22.77, with about 25.3 million shares traded.
The move matters because the market is treating Navitas less like a small consumer-charger supplier and more like a leveraged bet on AI data-center power systems. Wall Street’s chip rally was broad: Reuters reported that the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose as Nvidia gained before earnings, while Nasdaq data showed the PHLX Semiconductor Sector index up 3.65% at 11,718.36.
Navitas’ latest hook came Monday, when the company said it would show gallium nitride, or GaN, and silicon carbide, or SiC, products at PCIM 2026. GaN and SiC are chip materials used to move high power more efficiently than standard silicon in some uses. The company said the lineup includes a 20 kW 800V-to-6V power delivery board for AI data centers and a 10 kW 800V-to-50V platform aimed at 98.5% peak efficiency.
That is the heart of the trade. AI racks need more power, less heat and fewer conversion steps. Navitas says its products can help move data-center systems toward 800-volt direct current, a design meant to cut losses as server racks get denser.
The company is still small. First-quarter revenue was $8.6 million, up from $7.3 million in the fourth quarter but down from $14.0 million a year earlier. Navitas posted a GAAP operating loss of $27.8 million, while cash and cash equivalents stood at $221.0 million at the end of March.
Chief Executive Chris Allexandre said after the quarter that Navitas had made “a return to top-line sequential growth” as it shifted away from mobile and consumer markets toward higher-power uses. Chief Financial Officer Tonya Stevens cited “strong momentum and growth” in targeted high-power markets. Last10K
The company guided second-quarter revenue to $10.0 million, plus or minus $0.5 million, which at the midpoint would be more than 16% sequential growth. It also forecast non-GAAP gross margin of 39.25%, plus or minus 75 basis points; non-GAAP means adjusted figures that exclude some costs and can differ from standard accounting results.
Investors have also had to absorb fresh dilution. A May 13 filing showed Navitas sold 6,529,666 shares through an at-the-market program, a method of selling new stock into the open market at prevailing prices, and raised about $122 million after commissions and estimated expenses. The company said the registered shares under that program had been fully sold, assuming all trades settle.
Competition remains hard to price. Vicor, another power systems name tied to AI infrastructure demand, rose about 6.3% Wednesday afternoon, while Wolfspeed fell about 5.5%. Nvidia, whose earnings are the day’s main chip-sector event, was up about 1.7%.
Analysts have not moved in one direction. Needham lifted its Navitas target to $21 from $13 and kept a buy rating earlier this month, while Rosenblatt kept a neutral rating with a $13 target and Baird raised its target to $20 while keeping an outperform rating, according to market-data summaries.
The risk is that the share price is running ahead of orders. Navitas itself warns that customer pipeline and design wins are not orders, forecasts, backlog or measures of financial performance, and says revenue from design wins may not materialize. It also flags possible new competitors and larger traditional rivals with deeper research, manufacturing and customer resources.
For now, the stock is trading on proof-of-market rather than proof-of-scale. The next test is whether AI data-center power designs move from demos, conferences and customer interest into revenue large enough to offset losses and the dilution that helped fund the pivot.
