Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) ended Friday, December 19, 2025, with a strong regular-session gain and only modest movement in extended trading. The key story for Broadcom stock after the bell isn’t an earnings release or a surprise corporate announcement—it’s a combination of a tech-led rebound, heavy options-expiration flows, and fresh Wall Street price-target changes that reframed the week’s sharp selloff as a potential overreaction.
One important calendar note up front: U.S. stock markets are closed Saturday (Dec. 20) and Sunday (Dec. 21). The next regular session is Monday, Dec. 22, 2025.
Broadcom stock price recap: close, range, volume, and after-hours check
Broadcom shares closed at $340.36 on Friday, up 3.18% in the regular session. [1]
In early after-hours trading, AVGO was slightly higher, last shown around $340.72 at 4:48 p.m. ET (extended-hours quotes can move into the evening). [2]
Here are the key tape-read numbers from Friday’s session:
- Regular-session close: $340.36 (+3.18%) [3]
- After-hours (early): ~$340.72 (+0.11% vs. close, as of 4:48 p.m. ET) [4]
- Day’s range: $332.58 – $343.45 [5]
- Volume: ~158.6 million shares [6]
- 52-week range: $138.10 – $414.61 [7]
- Market cap (approx.): $1.61 trillion [8]
That outsized volume matters. Friday was a “triple witching” session—when stock options, stock-index options, and stock-index futures expire simultaneously—often associated with elevated turnover and short-term volatility. Reuters reported U.S. exchange volume of 24.60 billion shares vs. a 20-session average of 17.19 billion, underscoring how unusual the day’s flow was. [9]
What moved Broadcom today: the tech rebound + a reset in AI sentiment
Broadcom’s Friday strength occurred in a broader tech bounce that followed a shaky start to the week. Reuters attributed the market rebound to renewed optimism in AI-linked names, helped by Micron’s strong forecasts and a broader recovery in mega-cap tech. [10]
That context matters because Broadcom has become one of the market’s most closely watched “AI infrastructure” bellwethers—spanning custom AI silicon and networking on the semiconductor side, plus VMware-driven infrastructure software on the software side.
While the stock’s regular-session gain was notable, the after-hours reaction was muted, suggesting Friday’s move was largely a “daytime re-risking” event rather than a response to a new corporate catalyst. [11]
The headline driver investors cited today: Truist raises AVGO price target to $510
The most repeated, market-moving analyst note on Friday: Truist raised its price target on Broadcom to $510 from $500 and reiterated a Buy rating, framing AI infrastructure semiconductor stocks as “cheap” relative to growth—even while acknowledging practical constraints like power availability and funding for AI buildouts. [12]
That call landed at a sensitive moment for AVGO: the stock has been digesting a steep pullback earlier in December, and Friday’s upgrade narrative gave dip-buyers a clean “permission structure” to step back in.
UBS and others: “overreaction” language returns after the selloff
Truist wasn’t the only supportive voice in the backdrop. Coverage summaries circulating Friday pointed to the idea that Broadcom’s prior selloff may have been an overreaction, including references to UBS maintaining a Buy stance and lifting its target (to $475, from $472, in a recent note). [13]
Even when these target changes aren’t huge in isolation, they matter for AVGO because the stock has increasingly traded as a high-conviction institutional AI theme—so shifts in analyst tone can influence positioning quickly, especially during options-heavy sessions.
Why Broadcom sold off earlier: margins, mix, and “AI buildout” worries
To understand why Friday’s rebound felt so sharp, you have to zoom out a few days.
Two big worries drove pressure across AI-adjacent stocks in mid-December:
- Financing concerns around massive data-center buildouts
MarketWatch highlighted how AI-related shares—including Broadcom—fell amid investor anxiety over debt funding for data-center expansion (with particular attention on projects and counterparties tied to AI infrastructure). [14] - Broadcom-specific margin fears tied to product mix
Broadcom’s latest outlook commentary sparked debate that booming AI hardware sales—especially custom processors and system-level AI offerings—could pressure gross margins in the near term due to mix and pass-through costs.
In Broadcom’s most recent earnings call (for fiscal Q4 2025), management guided to gross margin declining by about 100 basis points sequentially in Q1 fiscal 2026, attributing the move primarily to a higher mix of AI revenue. [15]
That “AI is great, but it dilutes margin” narrative is central to how the stock is trading right now.
The bullish counterpoint: AI backlog visibility remains a major support
Bulls argue the market may be underappreciating how much demand is already “booked.” In that same Q4 2025 earnings call, Broadcom highlighted:
- AI revenue of $6.5 billion in the quarter (up 74% year over year) [16]
- AI networking switch order backlog exceeding $10 billion [17]
- Total AI-related order backlog above $73 billion, described as deliverable over roughly 18 months [18]
- Q1 fiscal 2026 revenue guidance of ~$19.1 billion [19]
This is why Friday’s analyst commentary had traction: supportive notes didn’t need to invent a new story—they simply leaned into the idea that the demand pipeline is still large, even if near-term profitability mix is shifting.
Forecasts and consensus: where Wall Street sees AVGO over the next 12 months
If you’re scanning “what forecasts say” into the weekend, the big picture remains constructive—though dispersed.
- StockAnalysis lists AVGO’s consensus rating as “Strong Buy” and shows a 12-month price target around $420.81 (about +24% from Friday’s close). [20]
- Today’s headline change: Truist to $510 (Buy maintained). [21]
- Recent supportive note: UBS to $475 (Buy maintained). [22]
The key takeaway for readers: forecasts are not “one number.” They are a range of scenarios that depend heavily on (a) how quickly AI infrastructure spending scales, and (b) whether margin pressure proves temporary or structural.
What to know before the next market open (Monday, Dec. 22, 2025)
Here are the practical, high-signal items investors are likely to track before trading resumes.
1) Dividend watch: Dec. 22 is a key date on many calendars
Broadcom’s board approved a $0.65 quarterly dividend, payable Dec. 31, 2025, with the company stating it will be paid to stockholders of record as of Dec. 22, 2025. [23]
Market data pages also commonly list Dec. 22, 2025 as the ex-dividend date. [24]
Why it matters: dividend mechanics can create small, temporary pricing effects around the ex-date—especially in a stock that’s heavily owned and actively traded.
2) Macro calendar: Monday looks light, but the “data distortion” theme isn’t gone
MarketWatch’s economic calendar shows no major U.S. economic releases scheduled for Monday, Dec. 22. [25]
That said, Reuters cautioned that the market is still navigating uncertainty around economic signals and expectations for Fed policy—made trickier by the 43-day U.S. government shutdown, which affected data collection and timing. [26]
For AVGO specifically, rate expectations matter because Broadcom trades partly like a long-duration growth compounder—discount rates and mega-cap sentiment can move the group even when company news is quiet.
3) Triple-witching aftermath: volatility can fade—or shift into the holidays
With Friday’s triple witching behind the tape, one question into Monday is whether flows calm down or simply migrate. Reuters quoted options-market commentary suggesting expirations can “clear out” positions, but may also leave markets more vulnerable to swings later around the Christmas period. [27]
Given how central options positioning has become to daily moves in mega-cap tech, this is not a footnote—especially for a stock as volatile as AVGO has been recently.
4) Holiday schedule: watch liquidity and trading hours next week
End-of-year trading conditions matter for headline-driven stocks. Reuters reported that U.S. markets are expected to be open Dec. 24 and Dec. 26, even as federal offices are set to close around Christmas by presidential directive. [28]
The NYSE holiday calendar also flags Christmas Day closures and typical early-close arrangements around Christmas Eve. [29]
Lower liquidity periods can amplify moves—up or down—on relatively modest headlines.
5) The “AI funding and power” debate remains the swing factor for AVGO
Even bullish analysts are explicitly calling out constraints like power and funding availability for AI infrastructure. [30]
For Broadcom, that debate shows up in a few very specific watchpoints:
- Any incremental evidence that hyperscalers are accelerating (or pausing) custom silicon and networking orders
- Any fresh reporting that reignites concern about financing for data-center projects
- Any additional color on whether AI-system mix pressure on margins is temporary or more persistent [31]
Bottom line: Broadcom ends the week stronger, but the “AI economics” argument isn’t settled
As of after-hours trading on Dec. 19, 2025, Broadcom stock is signaling something simple: Friday’s rally was accepted, not chased. Shares rose sharply in the regular session, then stayed relatively steady after the bell. [32]
Going into the next session (Monday, Dec. 22), the checklist is clear:
- Analysts just delivered a fresh upside narrative (notably Truist’s $510 target). [33]
- The market is still wrestling with whether AI growth will be margin-dilutive in the near term. [34]
- A dividend timing marker sits on the calendar. [35]
- Broader tech sentiment—boosted Friday by the chip rebound—remains a major driver. [36]
References
1. stockanalysis.com, 2. stockanalysis.com, 3. stockanalysis.com, 4. stockanalysis.com, 5. stockanalysis.com, 6. stockanalysis.com, 7. stockanalysis.com, 8. stockanalysis.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. stockanalysis.com, 12. www.tipranks.com, 13. www.tradingview.com, 14. www.marketwatch.com, 15. www.fool.com, 16. www.fool.com, 17. www.fool.com, 18. www.fool.com, 19. www.fool.com, 20. stockanalysis.com, 21. www.tipranks.com, 22. www.tipranks.com, 23. www.prnewswire.com, 24. stockanalysis.com, 25. www.marketwatch.com, 26. www.reuters.com, 27. www.reuters.com, 28. www.reuters.com, 29. www.nasdaqtrader.com, 30. www.tipranks.com, 31. www.fool.com, 32. stockanalysis.com, 33. www.tipranks.com, 34. www.fool.com, 35. www.prnewswire.com, 36. www.reuters.com
