Will Higher Semiconductor Revenues Help AVGO Stock Beat Q4 Earnings?

Core Insights - Broadcom's fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 results are expected to show significant growth driven by expanding AI offerings, particularly in custom AI accelerators (XPUs) [2][4] - AI revenues are projected to increase by 66% year over year to $6.2 billion, with XPUs contributing 65% of AI revenues [3][11] - The Infrastructure Software segment is anticipated to grow by 15% year over year, supported by VMware's increasing adoption and the launch of VCF 9.0 [6][8] Semiconductor Segment - Semiconductor revenues are expected to rise by 30% year over year to $10.7 billion in the fourth quarter, with a Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10.774 billion indicating a 31% increase from the previous year [4][10] - The strong demand for networking products, particularly Tomahawk 5 and 6, is contributing to this growth [3] AI Revenue Growth - AI revenues surged by 63% year over year to $5.2 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, with XPUs being a major driver [3] - The anticipated growth in AI revenues reflects the increasing demand for application-specific integrated circuits necessary for training Generative AI models [2] Infrastructure Software Segment - Infrastructure Software revenue is expected to reach approximately $6.7 billion, marking a 15% year-over-year increase, with a Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.733 billion [8] - The shift to a subscription-based model for VMware products and the adoption of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) are key factors in this growth [6][7] Gross Margin Impact - Despite the revenue growth from XPUs, these lower-margin products are expected to negatively impact Broadcom's gross margin, which is forecasted to decline by 70 basis points sequentially [9] - The adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be 67%, indicating a 10-basis point decline on a sequential basis [9]