New York, January 9, 2026, 16:24 EST — After-hours
- Broadcom stock rose about 3.7% after the bell, helping lift chip shares and the broader market
- Mizuho raised its Broadcom price target to $480 from $450 and kept an Outperform rating
- Investors’ next tests include U.S. inflation data on Jan. 13 and Broadcom’s next earnings date later this quarter
Broadcom Inc. shares climbed about 3.7% on Friday and were last at $344.87 shortly after the close, after Mizuho raised its price target on the chip and software company to $480. (TipRanks)
The move helped push the S&P 500 to a record close, with chip stocks driving a broader rally that sent the PHLX semiconductor index to a record high. “Investors are getting granular and picking the winners and losers,” said Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments. (Reuters)
The fresh bid matters because Broadcom sits in the middle of the AI buildout — both in networking gear and in custom chips used in data centers. Mizuho expects AI capital spending by big U.S. tech firms to surge 32% in 2026 to about $540 billion, a backdrop it sees favoring names such as Broadcom and Nvidia. (MarketWatch)
Broadcom’s last outlook flagged the same tension investors keep coming back to: fast AI sales growth, but pressure on profitability as the mix shifts. The company forecast fiscal first-quarter revenue of $19.1 billion and said AI semiconductor revenue was expected to double to $8.2 billion, while gross margin — a key profitability gauge — was set to slip about 100 basis points due to the higher AI mix. (Quartr)
Macro helped too. U.S. payrolls rose by 50,000 in December and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.4%, data that left traders largely expecting the Federal Reserve to hold rates steady at its Jan. 27-28 meeting. “All roads lead to the unemployment rate,” said Olu Sonola, head of U.S. economic research at Fitch Ratings, though he warned the weak job-growth trend “can’t be brushed aside.” (Reuters)
Even after Friday’s bounce, the setup is still fragile. A wobble in cloud spending plans, another jump in bond yields or more evidence that lower-margin AI chips are crowding out the rest of the business could hit sentiment quickly.
Trade policy is another wild card. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue rulings on Jan. 14, with investors watching for any decision that could reshape President Donald Trump’s global tariffs and, by extension, tech supply chains. (Reuters)
Next up, traders will be looking at U.S. December CPI on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET and then the Fed’s Jan. 27-28 meeting for rate signals that tend to sway high-growth chip names. Broadcom is scheduled to report its next results on Feb. 26 after the close, according to earnings calendars, with investors likely to focus on AI demand, margin trajectory and any new color on customer spending. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
