NEW YORK, April 14, 2026, 18:01 EDT
Shares of Broadcom jumped in late trading Tuesday after Meta rolled out a multi-year AI chip deal with the company, fueling the recent surge in optimism for the semiconductor designer. Duolingo, on the flip side, slipped roughly 2.2% as the language-learning platform continued to face investor pushback on sluggish growth and softer earnings forecasts.
The distinction is in focus now as investors pile into AI infrastructure stocks thanks to their clearer long-term prospects, while growth companies that put off monetization are taking a hit. Despite a 2% gain for the Nasdaq on Tuesday, Zacks tagged Broadcom as its Bull of the Day just one day earlier—and Duolingo as its Bear. That’s about as concise a read on current capital flows as you’ll get.
Meta plans to lean on Broadcom for support of its Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) chips through 2029. The partnership starts with an initial commitment topping 1 gigawatt, kicking off what both firms are calling the first phase of a broader, multi-gigawatt expansion as Meta ramps up its AI data-center footprint.
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan called the MTIA deployment “just the beginning” for what he described as a multi-generation roadmap. On Meta’s side, CEO Mark Zuckerberg pointed to “greater performance and efficiency” as the big benefit, as the company pushes out over 1 gigawatt of custom silicon. Broadcom Inc.
Meta’s deal comes after Broadcom locked up agreements with Google and Anthropic back on April 6. At the time, Broadcom committed to working with Google on future generations of its in-house Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs, through 2031. Anthropic, meanwhile, signed on for several gigawatts of advanced TPU capacity starting in 2027; CFO Krishna Rao called it the firm’s “most significant compute commitment to date.” Reuters
These latest deals stack onto Broadcom’s already blistering pace. Back in March, the company reported AI revenue up 106% to $8.4 billion for the latest quarter, projecting $10.7 billion for the current one. Its infrastructure software unit brought in another $6.8 billion. D.A. Davidson’s Gil Luria flagged visibility through 2027, highlighting “significant growth in demand.” Nvidia remains the leader in AI accelerators, but Broadcom is digging further into custom chips as hyperscalers seek other suppliers. AMD, for its part, has landed major AI supply agreements, too. Reuters
Market chatter has been leaning bullish lately. On Monday, Zacks named Broadcom as its top pick, pointing to strong AI demand. Then, a Yahoo Finance report out Tuesday noted Goldman Sachs sticking with a Buy on Broadcom following news from Google and Anthropic.
Duolingo’s challenge is a familiar one. Back in February, the company projected first-quarter bookings of roughly $301.5 million — a figure that trailed Wall Street’s forecast. For the full year, Duolingo set its bookings outlook between $1.27 billion and $1.30 billion, again falling short of analysts’ targets, as it chose to broaden AI feature access and tolerate softer profitability in the near term.
Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn said the company is “deliberately prioritizing user growth” and refining its free learner experience, a decision that could slow financial growth for now. Investors will get their next update when first-quarter results come out May 4, the company has said, offering another look at whether this strategy shift is having an effect. Duolingo, Inc.
The gap isn’t permanent. Broadcom still needs to deliver on commitments from Meta, Google, and Anthropic—real shipments, not just promises—as spending on AI infrastructure remains intense and customers double down on building their own chips. Duolingo, meanwhile, is leaning on new AI features and a beefed-up free tier to revive growth, hoping those users will eventually pay. Right now? Wall Street’s rewarding firms with scale and locked-in deals, and not much else.
