New York, Feb 14, 2026, 10:03 EST — Market closed.
- Broadcom finished Friday off 1.8% at $325.17.
- D.A. Davidson started coverage at Neutral, setting a $335 target. The firm cautioned that major cloud clients could shift more custom-chip development in-house.
- Traders are eyeing Tuesday’s post-holiday market open, with Broadcom’s earnings due March 4 also on the radar.
Broadcom Inc (AVGO.O) slipped 1.8% to finish Friday at $325.17. D.A. Davidson put out new coverage on the stock, tagging it with a neutral rating. The firm’s analyst, Gil Luria, described Broadcom’s AI custom-chip operation as “sitting on a shrinking iceberg.” Luria’s price target: $335—just above where shares closed. Investing.com
The call comes while investors sort through AI bets, wondering which companies can actually make their big investments pay. “We see this as a ‘prove it’ year for AI,” said Jack Herr, primary investment analyst at GuideStone Funds, after tech names dropped hard Thursday. Reuters
Stocks held their ground Friday as softer U.S. inflation figures pushed traders to lean into rate-cut wagers. Still, megacap tech stocks weighed on the market, pulling the Nasdaq down by the close. Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, described the CPI reading as “a good number,” noting inflation appeared to be “moderating.” Virginia Business
Luria’s main concern: application-specific integrated circuits, known as ASICs—chips designed for particular jobs—and just who holds the technical reins as things evolve. D.A. Davidson isn’t convinced Broadcom’s AI ASIC business deserves a richer valuation than top players like Nvidia. The firm points out that major clients might increasingly handle more of the process themselves, putting the squeeze on suppliers’ margins.
Broadcom shares dropped, part of a choppy session for chipmakers. Nvidia lost 2.2% on Friday. The S&P 500 managed a slight uptick, MarketWatch data showed.
With U.S. stock markets closed Monday for Washington’s Birthday—also known as Presidents Day—the next cash trading session will pick up on Tuesday.
Looking past the holiday break, earnings are next up on the calendar. Broadcom is set to deliver its first-quarter fiscal 2026 results after the bell on March 4. The company has a management call lined up for 5 p.m. ET.
Broadcom’s core role in the data-center boom goes beyond just selling networking silicon and custom chips to big cloud providers; it also runs a major infrastructure software operation. That blend has turned the stock into a bellwether for sustained AI spending — and a test of how well suppliers can hold the line on pricing.
But more investors are starting to talk about the downside. Should hyperscalers—the biggest names in cloud—opt to take on more design work on their own, custom AI chips could end up facing tougher competition and shrinking margins. That shift might weigh on valuations, even if revenues keep climbing.
Markets are shut Monday, so traders are looking to Tuesday for signals from AI-exposed chip stocks. After that, all eyes shift to Broadcom’s report and outlook on March 4 — a key check on whether the sector’s “prove it” phase is really here.
