Zacks Research Downgrades Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) to Hold

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $500.00 price target (up from $460.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Broadcom from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Broadcom from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Broadcom from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Broadcom in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.03.

Broadcom Stock Up 4.9%

NASDAQ AVGO opened at $332.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $1.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.03, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $334.17 and a 200-day moving average of $342.61. Broadcom has a 1-year low of $138.10 and a 1-year high of $414.61.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $19.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.10 billion. Broadcom had a return on equity of 39.28% and a net margin of 36.57%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Broadcom will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Broadcom

In other Broadcom news, Director Henry Samueli sold 320,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.53, for a total value of $128,296,167.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 37,326,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,950,399,066.20. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kirsten M. Spears sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.82, for a total value of $10,434,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 277,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $96,428,573.34. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 779,101 shares of company stock worth $283,804,325 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Broadcom

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Broadcom during the 4th quarter worth $24,252,196,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Broadcom by 895.2% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 12,689,800 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,391,940,000 after buying an additional 11,414,701 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Broadcom by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 483,442,939 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $133,261,046,000 after acquiring an additional 6,222,802 shares during the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Broadcom during the second quarter worth about $1,571,438,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Broadcom by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 190,084,351 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $65,788,194,000 after acquiring an additional 5,040,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.43% of the company’s stock.

Broadcom News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Broadcom this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations: revenue $19.31B (+29.5% YoY) and adjusted EPS $2.05, with AI semiconductor sales more than doubling to $8.4B — the core driver cited on the call. This beat + margin stability reassured investors. Broadcom’s Blowout Quarter Just Made the Bears Look Foolish
• Positive Sentiment: Very strong forward guide: Broadcom guided Q2 revenue to about $22.0B (well above consensus) and expects AI semiconductor revenue to accelerate to ~$10.7B, signaling continued high single-digit/huge YoY growth in AI exposure. Broadcom forecasts second-quarter revenue above estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management bullish on AI TAM: CEO Hock Tan said AI chip sales could be “significantly in excess of $100 billion” in 2027 and confirmed memory supply visibility through 2028 — a statement that supports multi-year demand assumptions. Broadcom stock rallies as CEO Tan makes strong case for why AI growth will last
• Positive Sentiment: $10B buyback announced and continued healthy cash flow — lowers share count risk and supports earnings per share. This is an explicit capital-return action that typically supports the share price. PR Newswire: Broadcom Q1 results & buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst enthusiasm: multiple firms raised price targets and reiterated buy/overweight ratings after the print (examples: JPMorgan, Citigroup, Truist, Rosenblatt), signaling growing buy-side conviction. Benzinga (analyst note roundup)
• Neutral Sentiment: Product progress: Broadcom said it has begun shipping a 2nm custom compute SoC on its 3.5D XDSiP platform — positive for technology leadership but a longer-term revenue story. Broadcom Ships 3.5D Face-To-Face Compute SoC
• Neutral Sentiment: Market noise items (short-interest entries here appear to contain errors/zeros) and some analyst target dispersion — watch for churn in headlines but these are less likely to move the stock than the earnings/guidance. TipRanks earnings call recap
• Negative Sentiment: Policy risk: reports that U.S. export rules for AI chips could tighten introduce geopolitical/regulatory downside that could constrain sales outside the U.S. or complicate supply chains. This is an industry-level overhang that can pressure high-PE semiconductor names. New Export Rules Could Be Coming for AI Chipmakers’ Sales
• Negative Sentiment: Enterprise software softness: Broadcom’s infrastructure software (notably VMware-related) showed only ~1% YoY growth this quarter — a drag on overall growth and a reminder that not all segments are benefitting equally from AI momentum. WSJ: Broadcom’s AI Business Is Booming. The Rest Is Complicated.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a global technology company that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions for a broad range of markets. The company’s semiconductor business provides components and systems for wired and wireless communications, enterprise and cloud storage, networking and broadband access, serving original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, telecommunications carriers and industrial customers worldwide. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates globally with research, development and sales organizations across North America, Europe and Asia.

On the semiconductor side, Broadcom’s portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) solutions, radio-frequency and connectivity components, Ethernet switching and PHY devices, storage adapters and controllers, optical transceivers and other networking silicon.