# How Astera Labs (ALAB) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: BetterThanSPY research, https://betterthanspy.com/research/alab
> Data as of October 22, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on ALAB alone. It places ALAB (Astera Labs, Inc. Common Stock) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where ALAB stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: ALAB's full trading record, from March 2024 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 22, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** ALAB has run far ahead of the market, rising 32.9% over the past 6 months against 8.0% for the S&P 500 and 7.8% for the Nasdaq 100. On the flip side, the slide is ALAB's own: it is 46.6% below its high, against 1.9% for the S&P 500.
- **Stock or market?:** The weakness is ALAB's own: it fell 22.1% over the past 3 months while the semiconductors ETF SMH (VanEck Semiconductor ETF) fell 10.8%. The S&P 500 rose 2.5%. Its semiconductor peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: NVDA (NVIDIA) rose 0.2%, while SIMO (Silicon Motion Technology) fell 33.1%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** Over the past year, ALAB rose 66.5% against 15.6% for the S&P 500 and 16.9% for the Nasdaq 100.

## How much would $10,000 in ALAB have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in ALAB over the past 2 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of ALAB over the same span and ALAB's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in ALAB at the end of September 2024 would have grown to $67,945 by September 2026, more than the $13,598 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of ALAB, and BE finished highest, at $262,290.

## ALAB at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- ALAB is still 46.6% below its all-time high.
- ALAB's deepest decline since it began trading in 2024 was 63.7%, from December 2024 to April 2025. It took four months from the low to climb back to its old high.

- Type: Stock, Technology (Semiconductors)
- Trading since: March 20, 2024
- Market value: $45B
- Volatility (1 year): 97.9%; Sharpe ratio: 1.01
- Worst decline ever: −63.7%, from December 26, 2024 to April 4, 2025; back at its high by August 6, 2025

| Period | ALAB total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | −29.1% |
| 3 months | −22.1% |
| 6 months | +32.9% |
| year to date | +43.6% |
| 1 year | +66.5% |

## ALAB against the whole market

Where ALAB ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does ALAB rank among all stocks?

This section ranks ALAB on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- ALAB is among the more volatile stocks: its price swings rank in the bottom 4% of the 3,282 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top is the calmest.
- ALAB's 1-year return ranks in the top 11% of the 3,282 stocks worth at least $300 million with 1 year of history.

| Measure | ALAB | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +66.5% | 361 of 3,282 (top 11%) |
| Volatility, 1 year | 97.9% | 3,151 of 3,282 (top 97%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 1 year | 1.01 | 887 of 3,282 (top 28%) |

## ALAB against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against ALAB, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do ALAB's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 1 year against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- Eight of the 21 popular alternatives, led by MU, DELL and MRVL, were both more rewarding and calmer than ALAB over the past 1 year, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Over the past 1 year, ALAB returned 66.5% a year, more than the S&P 500's 15.6%, with higher volatility (97.9% against 12.8%).

### Has ALAB consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares ALAB with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over five periods from one month to one year.

- Six of the 21 popular alternatives, led by MU, DELL and MRVL, outperformed ALAB in at least 3 of 5 timeframes.
- MU, DELL and MRVL earned more for the risk they took than ALAB (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in their worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | Periods ahead of ALAB | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ALAB: Astera Labs, Inc. Common Stock (this page) | +66.5% |  |  | 1.01 |
| [MU](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mu): Micron Technology, Inc. | +332% | 5/5 short-term | consistent | 2.21 |
| [DELL](https://betterthanspy.com/research/dell): Dell Technologies Inc. | +205% | 5/5 short-term | consistent | 1.83 |
| [MRVL](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mrvl): Marvell Technology, Inc. | +176% | 5/5 short-term | consistent | 1.66 |
| [AMD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/amd): Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. | +121% | 5/5 short-term | consistent | 1.50 |
| [INTC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/intc): Intel Corp. | +132% | 3/5 short-term | consistent | 1.46 |
| [TXN](https://betterthanspy.com/research/txn): Texas Instruments Incorporated | +68.0% | 3/5 short-term | consistent | 1.44 |
| SIMO: Silicon Motion Technology Corporation | +107% | 2/5 short-term |  | 1.24 |
| SITM: SiTime Corporation | +74.3% | 2/5 short-term |  | 1.06 |
| [ADI](https://betterthanspy.com/research/adi): Analog Devices, Inc. | +62.5% | 2/5 short-term |  | 1.53 |
| [TSM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tsm): Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited | +44.2% | 2/5 short-term |  | 1.14 |
| [MCHP](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mchp): Microchip Technology Incorporated | +18.5% | 2/5 short-term |  | 0.59 |
| [NVDA](https://betterthanspy.com/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | +18.0% | 2/5 short-term |  | 0.63 |
| [MPWR](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mpwr): Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. | +17.4% | 2/5 short-term |  | 0.57 |
| [ANET](https://betterthanspy.com/research/anet): Arista Networks, Inc. | +16.7% | 2/5 short-term |  | 0.56 |
| [AMZN](https://betterthanspy.com/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | +14.9% | 2/5 short-term |  | 0.57 |
| [NXPI](https://betterthanspy.com/research/nxpi): NXP Semiconductors N.V. | +11.4% | 2/5 short-term |  | 0.46 |
| [AVGO](https://betterthanspy.com/research/avgo): Broadcom Inc. | −4.3% | 2/5 short-term |  | 0.13 |
| RMBS: Rambus Inc. | −9.2% | 2/5 short-term |  | 0.28 |
| SMCI: Super Micro Computer, Inc. | −35.8% | 2/5 short-term |  | 0.00 |
| LSCC: Lattice Semiconductor Corporation | +44.1% | 1/5 short-term |  | 0.90 |
| CRDO: Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd | +18.6% | 1/5 short-term |  | 0.66 |

## Risk and diversification

How ALAB has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were ALAB's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of ALAB's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: ALAB fell 60.2% from September 2025 to March 2026, while the S&P 500 slipped only 3.8%.
- None of these declines kept ALAB below its old high for long; the longest climb back took four months.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −63.7% | December 26, 2024 | April 4, 2025 | August 6, 2025 | −15.7% |  |
| −60.2% | September 18, 2025 | March 30, 2026 | May 20, 2026 | −3.8% |  |
| −57.6% | April 29, 2024 | August 7, 2024 | November 5, 2024 | +2.0% |  |
| −48.3% | June 30, 2026 | July 29, 2026 | not yet | −2.3% |  |
| −24.1% | March 25, 2024 | April 19, 2024 | April 26, 2024 | −4.7% |  |

## Common questions

### What was ALAB's worst drawdown?

ALAB's deepest decline since it began trading in 2024 was 63.7%, from December 2024 to April 2025. It took four months from the low to climb back to its old high. Because ALAB launched in March 2024, that record does not include the dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis or eight other sell-offs.

### What were ALAB's best and worst years?

Over one full calendar years, ALAB's best year was 2025, when it returned 25.6%. Its worst was 2025, with a return of +25.6%.

### What are the best alternatives to ALAB?

Of the 21 popular alternatives we compared, six outperformed ALAB in at least 3 of 5 timeframes, with dividends reinvested: MU, DELL and MRVL.

## More research

- [Micron Technology (MU) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mu)
- [Dell Technologies (DELL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/dell)
- [Marvell Technology (MRVL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mrvl)
- [Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/amd)
- [Intel (INTC) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/intc)
- [Texas Instruments (TXN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/txn)
- [Analog Devices (ADI) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/adi)
- [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tsm)
- [Microchip Technology (MCHP) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mchp)
- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/nvda)
- [Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mpwr)
- [Arista Networks (ANET) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/anet)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://betterthanspy.com/research/alab
- All research pages: https://betterthanspy.com/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against ALAB live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=ALAB