-
Broadcom stock has been on fire over the past year, racking up gains of 109%.
-
The company’s booming artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor and networking business has fueled impressive revenue and profit growth.
-
Broadcom’s upcoming financial report will mark a crucial test for the highflier.
When it comes to technology solutions, Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) occupies a pivotal position in this ever-evolving landscape. The company’s products underpin a wide swath of tech infrastructure, and the paradigm shift that is artificial intelligence (AI) has taken it to the next level.
Much to the delight of its shareholders, Broadcom continues to capitalize on this opportunity, which is driving its revenue and profits higher despite its position as a larger, slower-growth company. That essential ability has fueled its stock price, which has surged 468% over the past three years (as of this writing) and 109% over the past 12 months.
The company faces a key hurdle when Broadcom reports its fiscal 2025 third-quarter results after the market close on Sept. 4. Given the stock’s blistering returns over the past year, should investors lay out their hard-earned money to jump on the bandwagon or wait until after this crucial financial report? Let’s dig in to see what the evidence suggests.
Broadcom offers a wide range of technology solutions that permeate every corner of technology. The company offers a diverse range of software, semiconductor, and security products that cater to the broadband, mobile, cable, and data center industries. In fact, its products are so far-reaching that Broadcom notes that “99% of all internet traffic crosses through some type of Broadcom technology.”
The advent of generative AI in late 2022 represented a sparkling new opportunity, and management wasted no time entering the fray. Broadcom designs custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to accelerate the processing of AI workloads. Furthermore, these power-miserly chips consume less energy, making them an attractive choice for cloud providers and data center operators. The company also offers an impressive array of networking solutions that help transport data around the ether.
This strategy has proven extremely profitable for Broadcom. In the second quarter (ended May 4), the company generated revenue of $15 billion, up 20% year over year, while its adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.58 jumped 44%. Management noted that the surging growth was the result of strong demand for AI, as revenue related to the technology grew 46% to $4.4 billion, marking its ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. While sales of its AI chips grew by double digits, AI networking solutions soared 70%.