Broadcom reported fourth-quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations for both earnings and revenue, driven by surging demand for artificial intelligence chips. The company’s stock initially rose in after-hours trading before falling more than 2%. According to LSEG data, Broadcom’s fiscal first-quarter revenue is projected at $19.1 billion, a 28% year-over-year increase and above the $18.3 billion average analyst estimate. CEO Hock Tan announced that AI chip sales for the current quarter are expected to double compared to the same period last year, reaching $8.2 billion. This growth will come from both custom AI chips and semiconductors used in AI networking infrastructure. Net income surged 97% to $8.51 billion, or $1.74 per share, up from $4.32 billion, or 90 cents per share, in the prior-year quarter. Alongside Nvidia, Broadcom has emerged as a major beneficiary of the AI boom. Its stock has climbed 75% in 2025 so far and doubled in value last year. The company’s custom chips, including Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), are gaining traction as a competitive alternative to Nvidia’s GPUs. On the earnings call, Tan revealed that Broadcom has secured a fifth customer for its custom AI chips. The previously unnamed client is Anthropic, which placed a $10 billion order for Google’s latest TPU, the Ironwood, during the quarter. This follows earlier disclosures: in June, Broadcom confirmed three customers and four prospects; in September, it revealed a fourth customer with a $10 billion order; and in October, it announced a partnership with OpenAI to develop custom chips. Tan noted that other major clients prefer to maintain control over their AI development by building their own custom AI accelerators, which Broadcom refers to as XPUs. The company also confirmed a new $1 billion order from a fifth customer, with deliveries expected in late 2026. Broadcom now has a $73 billion backlog for custom chips, switches, and other data center components related to AI over the next 18 months. Total revenue rose 28% year-over-year, fueled largely by a 74% increase in AI chip sales, which amounted to $8.2 billion in the fourth quarter. The semiconductor solutions segment reported $11.07 billion in sales, surpassing the StreetAccount estimate of $10.77 billion and marking a 22% annual increase. The infrastructure software segment, which includes VMware products, posted 26% growth, reaching $6.94 billion in revenue—well above Wall Street expectations. Broadcom also announced a quarterly dividend of 65 cents per share, up from 59 cents, with payment scheduled later this month. Investors are closely monitoring whether Broadcom’s major clients, including those in the OpenAI and Anthropic partnerships, remain on track with their chip deployment plans.