Broadcom Results Beat in Q4 on Strong Networking Demand, Ramp-Up in Wireless

By Yasin Ebrahim

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) reported on Thursday fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates as strong demand for networking and a ramp-up in its wireless business offset weaker enterprise spending.

Broadcom shares fell 2.3% in after-hours trade following the report.

Broadcom announced earnings per share of $6.35 on revenue of $6.47B. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of $6.24 on revenue of $6.43B. The chipmaker had previously guided fourth-quarter revenue of $6.4 billion, give or take $150 million.

Semiconductor solutions, its core business, rose 6%, to $4.8 billion, while infrastructure software rose 36% to $1.6 billion.

“We concluded the year with strong fourth quarter results driven by continued demand for networking from cloud and for broadband from service providers as well as the significant ramp in wireless, even as enterprise demand remained soft,” said Hock Tan, president and CEO.

  Looking ahead, the company guided first-quarter revenue of approximately $6.6 billion, an expected increase of 13 percent from the prior-year period, and adjusted EBITDA guidance of approximately $3.9 billion.

The company lifted its quarterly dividend by 11% to $3.60 per share.

Broadcom shares are up 29.58% from the beginning of the year, still down 4.03% from its 52 week high of $426.68 set on December 8. They are under-performing the Nasdaq 100 which is up 42.01% from the start of the year.

The quarterly common stock dividend increased by 11 percent to $3.60 per share from the prior quarter.