Broadcom stock slide earnings masks AI chip boom bet

Broadcom's stock slide after earnings followed a bullish prediction: a boom in AI chip sales over the next two years. The call was meant to renew optimism that the company can challenge Nvidia. It still left investors underwhelmed, according to Bloomberg Podcast.

The forecast was upbeat. The reaction was not.

Why a boom forecast failed to lift shares

Matthew Bloxom, senior media and tech analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, said Broadcom expects OpenAI and Anthropic to become its most important customers, eclipsing Google.

That signals real substance behind the pair's plans and capital raises, but Bloxom noted the midterm runway depends on current momentum continuing.

CEO Hock Tan framed it as six customers with four set to be huge, a setup that leans heavily on hyperscaler spending not slowing into fiscal 2027 and 2028, a view Broadcom doubled down on just this week with its AI chip forecast through 2028.

Can Broadcom actually pull hyperscalers away from Nvidia

The opportunity is clear: big hyperscalers don't want to depend entirely on Nvidia, and Broadcom is positioned as a core diversification partner.

Bloxom said most buyers will settle on two or three genuinely independent suppliers to balance supply constraints and competitive risk, since Google is both customer and technology rival.

Broader sourcing at the edges will persist while supply stays tight, but the core order remains concentrated, which is why any wobble in AI capex hits Broadcom sentiment faster than fundamentals.

Contrast that with HPE stock falling 7% on a beat this same week, a reminder that outsized expectations are now priced into AI infrastructure names.