Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) sit side by side in many artificial intelligence (AI) hardware conversations, yet the market makes it clear they are not the same kind of stock. Broadcom looks like a cash-rich infrastructure utility. AMD looks more like a leveraged bet on a shift in which players will supply the brains of data centers. That difference, more than any single metric, is what their valuations are signaling.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Broadcom's AI business is built around selling high-speed networking equipment and designing custom accelerators for hyperscalers that want their own bespoke silicon. It co-designs application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for customers such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms.
Each of these chips is narrowly built for the specific model mix and power envelope of the buyer, in contrast to the general-purpose GPUs sold by AMD, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), and others. Because of this, ASICs can be more efficient and less costly to use than GPUs for the precise types of workloads they are designed for.
Those ASIC programs are large. Broadcom's AI semiconductor revenue sits near $8.4 billion per quarter, with a disclosed AI chip backlog of around $73 billion, and management is now talking about a line of sight to more than $100 billion in AI revenue in 2027. Custom ASIC servers are on track to reach about 27.8% of AI server shipments in 2026, with ASIC sales volumes growing 44.6% year over year, well ahead of the growth pace of merchant GPUs.
#asic
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Broadcom's AI business is built around selling high-speed networking equipment and designing custom accelerators for hyperscalers that want their own bespoke silicon. It co-designs application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for customers such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms.
Each of these chips is narrowly built for the specific model mix and power envelope of the buyer, in contrast to the general-purpose GPUs sold by AMD, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), and others. Because of this, ASICs can be more efficient and less costly to use than GPUs for the precise types of workloads they are designed for.
Those ASIC programs are large. Broadcom's AI semiconductor revenue sits near $8.4 billion per quarter, with a disclosed AI chip backlog of around $73 billion, and management is now talking about a line of sight to more than $100 billion in AI revenue in 2027. Custom ASIC servers are on track to reach about 27.8% of AI server shipments in 2026, with ASIC sales volumes growing 44.6% year over year, well ahead of the growth pace of merchant GPUs.
#asic
2 months ago
