New York, Feb 21, 2026, 11:55 EST — Market finished up for the day.
- AVGO ended Friday off 0.4% at $332.65, ticking up a bit in after-hours trading.
- Broadcom has rolled out BroadPeak, a radio chip targeting equipment for 5G Advanced and the earliest 6G networks.
- Broadcom will scrap VMware’s entry-level reseller tier in EMEA this May as part of changes to its partner program.
Broadcom Inc (AVGO) slipped 0.4% on Friday, settling at $332.65. After the bell, shares edged up to $332.96, a 0.1% gain in after-hours moves.
Investors are staring down Monday with a recurring dilemma: does Broadcom’s shift into software and infrastructure keep gaining steam, or will the tightening in the channel finally take a toll? VMware, for better or worse, is now right in the middle of that conversation.
This week, Broadcom launched BroadPeak, a radio digital front-end system-on-chip designed for “massive MIMO” equipment—those large antenna arrays that ramp up network reach and bandwidth. The company claims BroadPeak can slash power consumption by as much as 40% compared to current options. “The infrastructure behind it must evolve,” said executive Vijay Janapaty, pointing to growing, data-hungry AI applications. markets.businessinsider.com
Broadcom trailed behind several other chip stocks on Friday, despite a positive session for Wall Street. The S&P 500 advanced 0.69%, with the Dow up 0.47%. Nvidia picked up around 1.0%, Qualcomm tacked on about 1.1%.
Broadcom plans to eliminate VMware’s lowest “Registered” reseller tier in EMEA this May, according to Laura Falko, who heads up the global partner program at Broadcom-VMware. Speaking with CRN, Falko said impacted partners will either drop out or move into the “Select” tier as Broadcom introduces its Advantage Partner Program. CRN
This shift in channels hits the stock straight at the core—renewals, support, and whether VMware customers keep the money flowing. Investors latch onto bumps here as an early signal, regardless of how noisy or unpredictable it looks from one quarter to the next.
Broadcom’s first-quarter fiscal 2026 results are due out after the bell on March 4, with a conference call set to follow. Investors are set to focus on management’s commentary around software execution and the outlook for networking and broader infrastructure chip demand.
The risk here is clear enough—losing partners could shrink reach and drag out deployments, while any slip in service levels might prompt some customers to stall on renewals. In wireless, even with new silicon, revenue doesn’t always follow quickly if operators stay tight-fisted with spending.
As markets reopen Monday, Broadcom faces a test: can it match moves in the broader chip sector after Friday’s uneven action? Investors are now looking ahead to March 4, the key date when Broadcom will be pressed to deliver specifics and guidance on both its VMware integration and core infrastructure story.
Behind that, there’s the May partner-tier change in EMEA—something the market is watching closely for hints from resellers and enterprise buyers ahead of the rollout.
