Investing.com– Starboard Value has built up a 7.7% stake in Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ:QRVO), the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, with the activist investor seeking changes to boost the company’s weak share price.
The stake is worth about half a billion dollars, and is expected to be revealed in a securities filing on Friday, the WSJ report said.
Qorvo’s shares rallied about 7.4% to $79.03 in aftermarket trade following the report.
Qorvo- which was formed in 2015 though the combination of TriQuint Semi and RF Micro Devices- competes with the likes of Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) in developing chips for wireless and wired communications, as well as in energy applications.
But the company’s shares have vastly lagged their peers over the past year, given that despite its status as a chipmaker, Qorvo has limited exposure to the artificial intelligence industry, which was a major value driver for chipmakers in recent years.
Qorvo’s shares are trading down about 27% in the past year, while Broadcom’s shares more than doubled in value. Qualcomm is also trading up about 14%.
Starboard invests in a variety of sectors, having recently taken stakes in Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Kenvue (NYSE:KVUE).
