Packaging Engineer - Inductor and Power module

Texas Instruments (TXN) shares have returned 91.4% over twelve months, against 13.3% for the S&P 500. The stock trades at 40.0 times earnings, against 22.8 for the index, and near its highest close of the year. That multiple is higher than at 36 of the last 40 quarter ends. Yet the 41.1% operating margin is higher than at only 15 of them, so buyers are paying for margins to keep climbing. Third-quarter revenue rose 27.7% to $6.06 billion, with data center sales up about 95%. The company guided fourth-quarter revenue of $5.8 billion to $6.3 billion; analysts expect $6.11 billion. The company is due to report in January 2027.

Texas Instruments pays $1.52 a quarter, Analog Devices $1.10. Which dividend is stronger? Texas Instruments just raised its dividend again and throws off billions in free cash flow, yet one number buried in its payout math raises a real question about which analog chip giant actually has the safer income stream. Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN | TXN Price Prediction) just raised its quarterly dividend to $1.52 from $1.42. Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) pays $1.10. Both make analog chips, which turn real-world signals like heat, sound, and voltage into usable data. Those parts stay in factory equipment and cars for years, so the cash they produce tends to be steady, and steady cash is what pays dividends. Factories and data centers are paying for both dividends. At Texas Instruments, industrial revenue climbed more than 40%, and data center revenue rose about 95%. The recovery was broad, and it showed up in cash. Trailing free cash flow reached $8.4 billion, up from $2.4 billion a year earlier as spending on its 300mm wafer factories slowed. CEO Haviv Ilan credited "the benefit of 300mm production." Analog Devices grew faster. Industrial sales rose 53% to $1.972B, and communications jumped 84% on AI data center demand. The adjusted operating margin hit 50.0%, which points to real pricing power. CEO Vincent Roche put it: "The origin of the high gross margin structures is the innovation premium that we attract." | Dividend Lens | Texas Instruments | Analog Devices | | Forward yield | 1.98% | 1.03% | | Straight annual increases | 23 | 22 | | Latest raise | 7% | 11% | | Dividends as share of TTM free cash flow | 62% | 42% | | Cash and short-term investments | $8.1 billion | $2.3 billion | Texas Instruments pays more while Analog Devices keeps a wider cushion. Texas Instruments sends almost all of its returned cash out as dividends. Buybacks came to only $48M last quarter. Trailing free cash flow also includes $1.6 billion of CHIPS Act incentives. Strip those out, and dividends use about 76% of free cash flow. That leaves a much thinner margin of safety. Analog Devices plans to put 40% to 60% of free cash flow toward the dividend and use the rest to buy back stock. It repurchased $1.157B in the quarter, so it has a large pool of cash it could redirect before ever cutting the dividend. The catch is the balance sheet. Total debt rose to $9.12 billion after the all-cash $1.5 billion purchase of Empower Semiconductor. Free Report, Just Released Why Didn't TXN Make The Top 10 List? 24/7 Wall St has helped investors make money for over two decades, and our top analysts just finished ranking the definitive Top 10 Stocks To Buy Now. Not the ten biggest companies. Not the ten everyone is arguing about. The ten best stocks to buy right now. And TXN didn't make the cut! The report is free, and you can see why we think each stock is a top investment today. One risk hangs over each payout. For Texas Instruments, the risk is capital spending in 2027. Ilan said that budget depends on "demand and our aspiration for growth," and he admitted the company is "investing ahead of demand." If capex climbs again just as CHIPS incentives wind down, free cash flow could shrink while the dividend continues rising. Analog Devices faces a different exposure. Roche noted that "AI capex could slow or decrease," and data center sales now make up 80% of its communications segment. Why I give Analog Devices the durability edge. If you want the most income today, Texas Instruments pays nearly double the yield, and its 23-year record of increases speaks for itself. When I ask which dividend will last, though, I pick Analog Devices. It spends less on factories, earns higher margins, and pays its dividend with less than half of its free cash flow. I would rethink that if Texas Instruments keeps 2027 capex in the $2 billion to $3 billion range, similar to this year. Got $1,000? Before you buy TXN, read this. If you have cash sitting in your account right now, give this two minutes. After more than two decades of helping investors beat the market, our top analysts at 24/7 Wall St. put together a definitive report on the Top 10 Stocks To Buy Today. And TXN wasn't one of them. They combed the entire market. It's not 10 ideas, not 10 stocks everyone is talking about, it's what their research points to as the 10 best stocks to buy right now, and it's free. Read more here and see which stocks made the list ->> Chris Lange Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology. His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups. When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.