If You'd Invested $10,000 in Wolfspeed 3 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today

By Anders Bylund – Dec 15, 2025 at 6:11AM ESTKey PointsA $10,000 investment in Wolfspeed made at the end of November 2022 would be worth just $2,071 today.Cash burn remained a major issue even as Wolfspeed moved closer to breakeven earnings.Wolfspeed may have improved its balance sheet with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, but the risk still looks high.These 10 Stocks Could Mint the Next Wave of Millionaires ›NYSE: WOLFWolfspeedMarket Cap$481MToday's Changeangle-down(-6.55%) $1.30Current Price$18.56Price as of December 12, 2025 at 4:00 PM ETIs Wolfspeed a comeback story, or a cautionary tale? See what a $10,000 investment from late 2022 would be worth today.I used to own some Wolfspeed (WOLF 6.55%) stock, starting in March 2020, right after the COVID-19 crash. The company was known as Cree at the time, an experienced maker of LED light elements. Cree was expanding its gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) chip-making capacity, and the company seemed poised for great returns as a leading parts supplier to the electric vehicle industry. The company sold its LED business, doubled down on its specialized semiconductors, and drew closer to breakeven bottom-line results (starting from deep losses) over the next couple of years. But it also burned a ton of cash and the success I expected in electric vehicle chips never seemed to materialize. So I lost patience with the investment thesis and closed my Wolfspeed position at the end of November 2022 with a 129% gain. Not too shabby! ExpandNYSE: WOLFWolfspeedToday's Change(-6.55%) $-1.30Current Price$18.56Key Data PointsMarket Cap$481MDay's Range$18.51 - $19.9752wk Range$0.39 - $36.60Volume446Avg Vol14MGross Margin-1941.56% A $10,000 Wolfspeed stake, 3 years later Selling those Wolfspeed shares turned out to be a great move. I missed the perfect all-time high by about a year, but the stock continued to drop and hasn't come close to its November 2022 levels since then. I'm glad the cash burn spooked me into selling. How have Wolfspeed investors fared in that roughly three-year period? Let's say you bought $10,000 of Wolfspeed stock on Nov. 30, where I exited my position.Advertisement WOLF data by YCharts The $10,000 bet is down to just $2,071. Ouch. If you insist on strict full-year returns, Wolfspeed has lost 77.3% in three years while the S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.07%) gained 73.4%. The plunge included a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection process, entered in June 2025 with the financial restructuring completed three months later. Image source: Getty Images.

Fellow Fool Leo Sun likes Wolfspeed's business prospects given its lighter debt load. I'm not so sure. My portfolio got lucky with this volatile chipmaker in 2022, but there are more GaN and SiC manufacturers available today, and the electric vehicle boom slowed down in 2025. Wherever Wolfspeed goes from here, I'll gladly watch the drama from Wall Street's sidelines.About the AuthorAnders Bylund is a contributing Motley Fool media and technology analyst covering semiconductors, cloud computing, internet infrastructure, quantum computing, and streaming media. Previously, Anders was a systems administrator for Nielsen Technology and CSX, gaining hands-on experience with enterprise-class systems. He was also a freelance writer for Ars Technica, TIME, USA Today, CNN, WIRED, and AOL's Daily Finance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in library and information sciences from Florida State University. He believes in coyotes and time as an abstract.TMFZahrimX@TMFZahrimRead NextDec 4, 2025 •By Keith NoonanWolfspeed: Meme Stock or Turnaround in the Making? Does This $700 Million Refund Change Anything?Dec 1, 2025 •By Rich SmithWhy Wolfspeed Stock Just PoppedDec 1, 2025 •By Leo SunUp 14%, Should You Buy Wolfspeed Stock Right Now?Nov 25, 2025 •By Johnny RiceWhy Wolfspeed Stock Soared 10.1% TodayOct 30, 2025 •By Keith NoonanWhy Wolfspeed Stock Is Plummeting TodayOct 30, 2025 •By Lyle DalyIs There a Future for Wolfspeed?