IQE plc
IQE plc is a leading British semiconductor company that develops, manufactures, and sells advanced epitaxial wafers and compound semiconductor materials. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Cardiff, United Kingdom, it specializes in wafer products using technologies like Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) and Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) for gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN), indium phosphide (InP), and silicon-based materials. The company operates through three key segments: Wireless, serving radio frequency devices for communications; Photonics, enabling light transmission and sensing in visible and infrared spectra; and CMOS++, providing silicon-related advanced materials. IQE supports diverse applications including 5G infrastructure, optoelectronics, MicroLED displays, infrared sensing, power electronics, and data centers, with global facilities across the UK, US, Taiwan, and other regions. Employing around 500 people, IQE plc plays a pivotal role as the world's largest independent external foundry for these critical components, driving innovation in the technology sector through reliable, scalable production.
$0.52
-$0.03 (-5.75%)
EOD Oct 16, 2026
The business is unprofitable at the operating level (-27.14% margin). The thesis depends entirely on whether and when it reaches sustainable profitability.
Revenue declined 17.6% YoY. Margins deteriorated 5.5pp alongside, both lines moving the wrong way.
Negative free cash flow of -£5M. The business is consuming cash, not generating it. Operating margin contracted 5.5pp YoY, cost discipline may be slipping.
Price History
Valuation & Multiples
Based on TTM earnings · Diluted shares
Profitability & Returns
Revenue (TTM)
£97M
▼ -17.6% YoY
Net Income (TTM)
-£37M
▲ +3.9% YoY
Op. Margin
-27.14%
▼ -5.5pp YoY
ROIC
-10.71%
▼ -1.4pp YoY
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet
FCF (TTM)
-£5M
▲ +73.9% YoY
Op. Cash Flow (TTM)
£348K
▲ +103.1% YoY
Net Debt
£76M
Cash & Equiv.
£16M
3Y CAGR: -16.6%
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Is IQE (IQEPF) overvalued?
IQE (IQEPF)'s valuation is best read against its own history, its peers, and the growth its price implies. A high multiple is not the same as overvalued: fast-growing, high-quality businesses can deserve a premium. See the general approach in how to tell if a stock is overvalued.
On quality, IQE scores 0/100 on Intrinsiqq's quality scorecard (a lower-quality business on these measures), weighing growth, margins, returns on capital, share count, and balance-sheet strength. All figures are computed from company filings; read the full methodology, or see how the market compares in our US profitability statistics. This is analysis, not investment advice.
Frequently asked
Is IQE a high-quality business?+
IQE scores 0 out of 100 on Intrinsiqq's quality score, a weighted blend of 6 metrics each scored 0 to 100, which makes it a lower-quality business on these measures. Recent fundamentals include a -27.1% operating margin and a -10.7% return on invested capital. The score weighs revenue and free-cash-flow growth, operating margins, return on invested capital, share-count change, and balance-sheet strength, all computed from company filings, not opinion. Because valuation only means something relative to quality, the full metric-by-metric breakdown is on the quality scorecard.
Is IQE a good stock to buy right now?+
That depends on valuation and quality together, not either alone. you should weigh IQEPF's valuation and scores 0/100 on quality (lower-quality). A cheap price is only a bargain if the business is durable, and a premium can be justified by genuine quality, so the two questions, "is it cheap?" and "is it good?", only make sense side by side. Read the valuation against the quality scorecard, run the DCF on your own assumptions, and decide for yourself. This is analysis from company filings, not investment advice.
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Data sourced from company filings and third-party price providers. Scores, valuations, and metrics are algorithmic estimates. This is not investment advice. See our Terms and Methodology.