Hittite Microwave

In 1985, after a career in research, Dr. Yalcin Ayasli founded Hittite Microwave Corporation in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. The company focused on a highly specialized market: designing and developing high-performance integrated circuits, modules, and subsystems for radio frequency (RF), microwave, and millimeter-wave applications. These were not your everyday consumer chips; they were sophisticated components for demanding sectors like cellular and satellite communications, aerospace, defense, and industrial instrumentation. For years, Hittite quietly built a reputation for excellence and consistent profitability. A significant milestone arrived in 2005 when the company went public with an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq, trading under the ticker symbol 'HITT'. This event provided the company with capital and a higher public profile, while it continued its focus on a fabless model, concentrating on design and engineering while outsourcing the capital-intensive manufacturing. The company's journey as an independent entity culminated in a major event in 2014. Analog Devices, a giant in the semiconductor world, announced its intention to acquire Hittite. The all-cash deal was valued at approximately $2 billion, a significant premium on its stock price at the time. The acquisition was completed later that year, integrating Hittite's specialized RF and microwave expertise into Analog Devices' broader portfolio and marking the end of a nearly 30-year run as a standalone force in the high-frequency electronics market.