MaxLinear stock trades on multiples measured over a trailing year, while the infrastructure business that would justify them is only now the company’s largest.

MaxLinear (MXL) stock is up about 431% over the trailing twelve months and still trades about 34% below its 52-week high. Screen it and you find a business losing money on its operations. Listen to management and you find one whose largest revenue category is now infrastructure, driven by optical data-center ramps. The gap between those two readings is what a buyer is pricing.

13.4 Times Sales, Measured Against An Older Company

The shares trade at 13.4 times trailing twelve-month sales, against 3.3 for the S&P 500. Those sales are $0.6…