Is Broadcom Stock a Smart Buy Before Q2 Earnings Report?
Broadcom AVGO is set to report its second-quarter fiscal 2025 results on June 5.
For second-quarter fiscal 2025, AVGO expects revenues of $14.9 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $14.92 billion, suggesting growth of 19.5% from the year-ago quarter's reported figure.
The consensus mark for earnings has been unchanged at $1.57 per share over the past 30 days, indicating 42.73% growth from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.
Broadcom's earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average earnings surprise being 3.44%. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)
Broadcom Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Broadcom Inc. price-eps-surprise | Broadcom Inc. Quote
Let us see how things have shaped up for AVGO shares prior to this announcement.
Factors to Note Prior to Broadcom's Q2 Earnings
Broadcom's fiscal second-quarter performance is expected to have benefited from its expanding AI offerings. AI revenues are anticipated to jump 44% year over year to $4.1 billion. Aggressive investments by hyperscaler partners on high-performance accelerators, as well as on AI data centers, are expected to have benefited AVGO's performance in the to-be-reported quarter.
Broadcom expects semiconductor revenues to climb 2% sequentially and 17% year over year to $8.4 billion. Infrastructure Software revenues are expected to grow 23% year over year to $6.5 billion. VMware's annual booking value is expected to surpass $3 billion.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal second-quarter Semiconductor Solutions revenues is pegged at $8.42 billion, indicating 17% year-over-year growth. The consensus mark for Infrastructure Software revenues is pegged at $6.51 billion, indicating 23.1% year-over-year growth.
Strong results at VMware are expected to have driven top-line growth. Broadcom's focus on shifting VMware products to a subscription-based model (60% completed at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2025) and growing adoption of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) is expected to have driven top-line growth in the to-be-reported quarter. Strong adoption of VMware Private AI Foundation is driving growth. Broadcom, in collaboration with NVIDIA NVDA, had 39 enterprise customers at the end of the fiscal first quarter.
Broadcom expects an adjusted EBITDA margin of 66% in the to-be-reported quarter.
AVGO Shares Outperform Sector
AVGO shares have returned 7.3% year to date, outperforming the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector's drop of 1.1% and the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry's appreciation of 1.1%.
AVGO Stock's Performance
The AVGO stock is not so cheap, as the Value Score of D suggests a stretched valuation at this moment.
In terms of the forward 12-month price/sales ratio, Broadcom shares are trading at 17.13X, higher than its median of 13.72X and the sector's 6.36X.
P/S Ratio (F12M)
Strong AI Portfolio Aids Broadcom's Long-Term Prospects
AVGO's long-term prospects are expected to benefit from the growing demand for AI infrastructure. A solid portfolio is helping expand clientele that includes Alphabet GOOGL and Meta Platforms META. Its strong partner base, including NVIDIA, Microsoft, Arista Networks, Dell Technologies, Juniper and Supermicro, has been a key catalyst.
Strong demand for Broadcom's application-specific integrated chips (ASICs), designed to support AI and machine learning and make these tasks more efficient, aids top-line growth. Alphabet and Meta Platforms are notable users of Broadcom's ASICs.
The acquisition of VMware has benefited Infrastructure software solutions. Since closing the acquisition, AVGO added more than 70% of its largest 10,000 customers to VCF, which enables enterprises to deploy private cloud environments on-premise.
AVGO sees massive opportunities in the AI space as specific hyperscalers have started to develop their XPUs. Per the company, each of AVGO's three hyperscalers plans to deploy 1 million XPU clusters across a single fabric by 2027. Serviceable Addressable Market for XPUs and networks is expected to be between $60 billion and $90 billion for fiscal 2027 alone.
Broadcom's focus on reducing its debt is noteworthy. The company paid off $1.1 billion of debt in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. AVGO's strong cash flow-generating ability is expected to help the company sustain its dividend payout, as well as lower its debt level simultaneously.
Conclusion
Broadcom's strong portfolio, along with an expanding partner base, reflects solid top-line growth potential over the long run. We believe that these factors justify the premium valuation.
Broadcom currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), suggesting that it is the right time to buy the stock ahead of the second-quarter fiscal 2025 results. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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