New York, Feb 16, 2026, 10:38 EST — Market closed
- Broadcom ended the last session at $325.17, shedding 1.81%.
- U.S. stock markets are closed for Presidents Day, with trading set to resume on Tuesday.
- Broadcom is set to release its fiscal Q1 results after markets wrap up on March 4.
Broadcom Inc dropped 1.81% to finish at $325.17 Friday. The S&P 500 ticked up 0.05%. The Dow managed a 0.10% gain. U.S. equity markets take a break for Presidents Day on Monday, trading resumes Tuesday.
With the holiday break out of the way, AVGO traders are eyeing March 4. That’s when Broadcom will release its fiscal first-quarter 2026 numbers after the bell and hold its call.
Back in December, Broadcom topped Wall Street’s first-quarter revenue forecasts, but flagged a hit to gross margin as AI business ramps up — more AI systems in the mix means thinner margins. CEO Hock Tan told investors AI chip revenue should reach $8.2 billion for the fiscal first quarter, double from before, with an eye-popping $73 billion AI backlog. CFO Kirsten Spears laid it out: expect gross margin to drop “about 100 basis points,” or a full percentage point, from the prior period. Still, analyst Kinngai Chan at Summit Insights pointed out that backlog is concentrated with just five customers. D.A. Davidson’s Gil Luria, meanwhile, noted higher manufacturing costs at TSMC could put added pressure on returns. Reuters
Chip stocks have had a shaky stretch, with Broadcom lagging as others moved up heading into the weekend. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index managed a 0.66% gain on Friday, according to Investing.com.
Investors face a packed stretch of AI chip earnings in the days ahead. Nvidia unveils its fourth-quarter and full-year numbers on Feb. 25. Marvell follows on March 5. Both events could move the needle for networking and custom silicon demand, factors that play directly into Broadcom’s outlook.
The race to wire up AI data centers is getting crowded. Cisco just introduced a switch chip built for big AI clusters, taking direct aim at Broadcom’s Tomahawk and the networking hardware coming out of Nvidia. The new Silicon One chip should hit the market in the second half of this year, according to the company.
Broadcom’s March 4 report isn’t just about the top-line revenue print. Traders will be watching closely for any fresh color on AI chip and networking demand, movement in gross margins, and where things stand with the VMware software business since Broadcom took it over.
If custom AI processors and system sales keep outpacing the higher-margin divisions, margin compression could easily take center stage again. “Hitting that panic button is premature,” Melius Research analyst Ben Reitzes said in December. Morningstar analysts chalked up the earlier selloff to remarks about gross-margin dilution, but noted they weren’t worried—the chips boosted operating margins. Reuters
Markets will reopen Tuesday, though the real focus drifts to the coming weeks—Nvidia’s AI spending update lands Feb. 25, and Broadcom is up March 4 with its numbers and guidance.
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