Broadcom’s stock rose sharply Thursday after the semiconductor giant reported fiscal third-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations and unveiled a massive $10 billion order from a new, unnamed artificial intelligence customer. The disclosure immediately fueled speculation over who the client might be, while underscoring Broadcom’s fast-growing role at the center of the AI chip boom.
The company’s adjusted earnings came in at $1.69 per share, ahead of the $1.65 consensus estimate from LSEG, while revenue climbed 22% year over year to $15.96 billion, topping the $15.83 billion expected by analysts. Broadcom also issued upbeat guidance, projecting fourth-quarter revenue of $17.4 billion compared with the $17.02 billion Wall Street was looking for.
On a GAAP basis, Broadcom reported net income of $4.14 billion, or 85 cents per share, a sharp reversal from a net loss of $1.88 billion, or 40 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. The year-ago loss reflected a one-time $4.5 billion tax provision tied to moving intellectual property to the U.S.
The upbeat results build on a remarkable run for Broadcom’s shares. As of Thursday’s close, the stock had gained 32% year-to-date and nearly doubled over the past 12 months, lifting its market capitalization above $1.4 trillion. Investors have been rewarding CEO Hock Tan’s strategy of positioning Broadcom as a key supplier of custom silicon to the world’s largest cloud operators, putting it in direct competition with Nvidia’s dominant AI chip franchise.
During a call with analysts, Tan confirmed that Broadcom had secured $10 billion in production orders for its custom AI processors — known as XPUs — from a fourth customer. Broadcom already develops tailored chips for Google and other major cloud platforms, in addition to producing networking hardware and software needed to interconnect thousands of AI accelerators.
“One of these prospects released production orders to Broadcom, and we have accordingly characterized them as a qualified customer for XPUs,” Tan said, adding that the large order raised Broadcom’s AI revenue forecast for next year. “We will ship pretty strongly beginning 2026,” he said.
AI-related sales were a key growth driver in the third quarter. Revenue from Broadcom’s AI business jumped 63% to $5.2 billion, surpassing the company’s earlier prediction of $5.1 billion, and Tan said he expects that figure to climb to $6.2 billion in the current quarter. Semiconductor solutions revenue, which includes chip sales, rose 57% to $9.17 billion, while infrastructure software — bolstered by the addition of VMware — increased 43% to $6.79 billion.
Analysts say Broadcom’s steady revenue growth this year and its new customer wins point to even stronger momentum in 2026 as AI spending accelerates. While Nvidia remains the most valuable chip company, Broadcom’s expanding footprint in custom processors suggests the “AI pie” may simply be getting larger rather than becoming a zero-sum game. For now, the mystery surrounding Broadcom’s $10 billion client is giving Wall Street even more to speculate about — and giving investors one more reason to bid the stock higher.
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