Analog Devices insiders sold $99 million in a year and never bought a share
Chair Vincent Roche filed his fourth straight monthly notice to sell on 1 October, one of four insiders on the tape in a week, while the company writes a $1.35 billion cash check for Alif Semiconductor and buys back its own stock at record pace.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
Four insiders, $5.9 million, six days
Vincent T. Roche, Analog Devices chair and chief executive, filed notice on 1 October to sell 10,000 shares worth about $3.97 million, his fourth consecutive monthly sale of exactly 10,000 shares 1. The filing states the sale runs under a Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted on 3 December 2025, so it is pre-scheduled; it lists prior sales of $3.90 million on 1 July, $3.63 million on 3 August and $3.56 million on 1 September 1. October's notice, at roughly $397 a share, is the largest of the four.
He had company this week. CFO Richard Puccio Jr sold $573,285 of stock, per a 27 September report 2. On 2 October, officer Vivek Jain filed to sell 2,000 shares worth $833,962 and officer Katsufumi Nakamura filed to sell 1,200 shares worth $498,028 34. Neither of those notices lists a 10b5-1 plan adoption date 34. None of the filings states a reason.
One notice from the chair outweighs the three other insider entries combined
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Roche, notice 1 Oct | $3.97M |
| Jain, notice 2 Oct | $0.83M |
| Puccio, sale reported 27 Sep | $0.57M |
| Nakamura, notice 2 Oct | $0.5M |
The company is the buyer on the other side
GuruFocus counts $99.4 million of ADI insider sales over the past twelve months and not one purchase 5. Over the same stretch, ADI repurchased $3.13 billion of its own stock, including $1.157 billion in the quarter ended 1 August alone, on top of $535 million in dividends 6. The largest identifiable buyer of ADI stock is ADI itself; the named sellers on the filings are the people who run it.
The re-rating everyone is trading around
The stock closed at $417.15 on 2 October, up 3.1% on the day and 74.8% over a year, at 49.5 times trailing earnings and 21.9% above GuruFocus's $342.17 fair-value estimate 5. The run has real fuel: record revenue of $4.02 billion in the August quarter, up 40%, at a 50% adjusted operating margin 6.
Revenue nearly doubled off the spring 2024 trough to a record $4.0B quarter
Data
| Revenue | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '23 | $2.72B |
| Q4 '23 | $2.51B |
| Q1 '24 | $2.16B |
| Q2 '24 | $2.31B |
| Q3 '24 | $2.44B |
| Q4 '24 | $2.42B |
| Q1 '25 | $2.64B |
| Q2 '25 | $2.88B |
| Q3 '25 | $3.08B |
| Q4 '25 | $3.16B |
| Q1 '26 | $3.62B |
| Q2 '26 | $4.02B |
Since the $1.35 billion all-cash Alif Semiconductor deal was announced on 9 September, with up to $200 million more contingent, the shares have climbed from about $359 premarket to $417.15, roughly 16% in three weeks 57. Roche pitched the deal as AI moving "out of the data centre and into the physical world" 8. The check lands on $2.17 billion of cash and about $9.1 billion of borrowings; $4.94 billion of trailing free cash flow is what actually pays for it 6.
The mechanical defense, and its limit
Roche's plan predates the Alif announcement by nine months 17. Jain's shares came from restricted stock that vested in March 2025, Nakamura's from vestings and employee stock purchases dating to 2024: pay converting to cash, not visible bets against the edge thesis 34. The forward multiple is 24.9x, ADI is guiding to a record $4.3 billion fourth quarter, and among guru holders tracked by GuruFocus, sixteen of twenty trimmed while six added 56. What the defense does not explain is the one-sidedness: twelve months, $99.4 million out, nothing in 5.
Two dates decide it: the Alif close and the November tape
Two dated readings: the Alif close, expected before the end of calendar 2026, and fiscal fourth-quarter results against the $4.3 billion guide 67. The first week of November will show whether Roche's monthly notice makes it five in a row 1.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
