Playbook › Themes
Automotive ADAS & sensing semiconductors
Claim
Two rounds, 25 companies, run as a search for better alternatives to the held/watched INDI. Nothing displaced it, and the rejection reasons are the reusable part:
| Name | Rejected because |
|---|---|
| ALGM | Outside size range + insider selling |
| AEVA, INVZ | Worse than INDI on the same axes |
| VC | Tier 1 supplier margin structure — a different, worse business |
| HSAI | Only if China ADR risk is acceptable |
The VC rejection generalises: Tier 1 automotive suppliers have structurally worse economics than the semiconductor content they integrate. Screening "automotive exposure" without splitting supplier tiers mixes incompatible margin profiles.
⚠️ Unresolved data discrepancy
The screen recorded its own warning: SITM, VICR and POWI showed significant market-cap differences between Yahoo Finance MCP and web sources. Flagged as "verify independently before any trade sizing" — and never verified.
Supports [[principle-primary-source-beats-vendor]]. Resolve before any of those three is sized.
What would falsify this
A material ADAS design-win cycle changing the content-per-vehicle economics, or INDI's own thesis breaking — which would make the alternatives question live again rather than settled.
History
- 2026-06-12 — two rounds, 25 names.
- 2026-07-30 — recorded; the market-cap discrepancy remains open.