Broadcom Inc. designs, develops, and supplies various semiconductor devices with a focus on complex digital and mixed signal complementary metal oxide semiconductor based devices and analog III-V based products worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Semiconductor Solutions and Infrastructure Software. It provides set-top box system-on-chips (SoCs); cable, digital subscriber line, and passive optical networking central office/consumer premise equipment SoCs; wireless local area network access point SoCs; Ethernet switching and routing custom silicon solutions; serializer/deserializer application specific integrated circuits; optical and copper, and physical layer devices; and fiber optic components and RF semiconductor devices. The company also offers RF front end modules and filter; Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and global positioning system/global navigation satellite system SoCs; custom touch controllers; inductive charging; attached small computer system interface, and redundant array of independent disks controllers and adapters; peripheral component interconnect express; fiber channel host bus adapters; read channel based SoCs; custom flash controllers; preamplifiers; optocouplers, industrial fiber optics, and motion control encoders and subsystems; light emitting diode, ethernet PHYs, switch ICs, and camera microcontrollers. Its products are used in various applications, including enterprise and data center networking, home connectivity, set-top boxes, broadband access, telecommunication equipment, smartphones and base stations, data center servers and storage systems, factory automation, power generation and alternative energy systems, and electronic displays. Broadcom Inc. was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Broadcom appears to be a high-quality but already very expensive business: operating profitability and earnings remain outstanding, but the market has already priced in a significant portion of that quality. A P/E of 64.77, P/S of 19.22, P/B of 16.82, and P/FCF of 43.47 are noticeably above the industry median, indicating a premium for growth and high expectations rather than clear undervaluation. At the same time, the dynamics of the multiples have generally improved in recent periods compared with peak levels, but they still remain at a very high level.

The company’s strength lies in its margins: a gross margin of 68.77%, operating margin of 43.39%, and net profit margin of 42.94% are significantly above industry benchmarks and continue to improve year over year. ROE of 43.91%, ROA of 17.10%, and ROI of 25.76% also confirm high capital and asset efficiency, with a positive trend in these metrics as well. Revenue, EBITDA, operating profit, and net income all show steady growth, supporting the fundamental valuation and reducing the risk that current profitability is a one-off effect.

Liquidity looks comfortable: a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.29 are at healthy levels and improving over time. Debt burden is moderate, but not ideal: a debt/equity ratio of 0.71 looks acceptable, but absolute debt remains significant, and long-term liabilities are still high. Dividend yield of 0.18% is very low and declining, so the dividend factor contributes little to the investment case. One notable concern is that return on tangible equity is reported as 0.00, which limits the quality of interpreting capital returns on a tangible basis.

Overall, Broadcom’s fundamentals are strong, but the valuation is already very demanding, so for a conservative investor it would be reasonable to slightly lower the target benchmark. This is not a deep revaluation down story, but rather a cautious adjustment due to the high valuation base amid already strong operating performance.

Broadcom Inc.

Сильный индекс, без изменений. Быки в растерянности.

Strong index, flat. The bulls are confused.

Средний индекс, значительно вырос. Рынок на стороне быков.

Medium index, significantly up. The market is on the bulls' side.

Слабый индекс, незначительно вырос. Приток средств в лонги остается на невысоком уровне.

Weak index, slightly up. The inflow of funds into longs remains at a low level.

Broadcom is showing strong growth in earnings and margins, but it is trading at a very high premium on valuation multiples, so the target should be slightly lowered.

Key Points
Nvidia has a stronger moat than Broadcom.
Even with mounting competition in the GPU market, Nvidia has expanded its total addressable opportunity.
Nvidia’s valuation looks reasonable right now.
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) are two of the leading semiconductor companies at the center of the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. Both tech leaders have been handsomely rewarded for their troubles. Over the past five years, Nvidia's shares have climbed by about 904%, as of writing, while Broadcom has gained 563%.
Both could continue capitalizing on the AI industry's growth, but which one will perform better over the next five years? My money is on Nvidia, and here is why.
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Is Nvidia's momentum about to stop?
Nvidia is best known for making GPUs (graphics processing units), the workhorse of AI training. Demand for the company's products has been the main driver behind outstanding revenue and earnings growth in recent years.
However, many worry that this tailwind may be coming to an end. There is increased demand for Application-Specific Integrated Circuits, custom AI chips designed to handle specific workloads. Broadcom is a leader in designing ASICs.
As companies increasingly seek to reduce their reliance on Nvidia's hardware for various reasons, including price-related ones, Broadcom may benefit. Even so, several things signal that demand for Nvidia's GPUs will remain high for the foreseeable future. For instance, even as some of the hyperscalers double down on AI chips, they remain loyal Nvidia customers.
Some of them have said so. Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO, Andy Jassy, predicted that the company would be an Nvidia partner for as long as he can foresee. Other companies, including Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ:SPCX), are spending fortunes on their AI-related ambitions. So, it appears that the predicted continued increase in AI infrastructure spending will benefit Nvidia over the medium term.
It should benefit Broadcom as well, but there are several reasons Nvidia is arguably in a better position. Let's consider three of them. First, Nvidia is the undisputed leader in the GPU market, holding a more than 90% market share.
The company's technological expertise is only part of the reason it has remained the top player in this industry. Its real competitive edge stems from its CUDA ecosystem, which creates high switching costs.
Broadcom is also a leader in the ASIC space, but its roughly 60% market share isn't nearly as impressive as Nvidia's dominance in GPUs. Besides, I'd argue that Broadcom's moat is narrower, while the company is increasingly facing tough competition. Second, even as Broadcom's AI semiconductor revenue continues to grow rapidly, this business has lower gross margins than the company's Infrastructure software segment.
So, as AI semiconductor revenue accounts for an increasingly large percentage of revenue, gross margins could drop. That won't mean lower profits. It will mean a lower gross profit per dollar of revenue.
Third, Nvidia is no longer just a GPU company. The company has expanded well beyond that and now offers a full-stack AI platform. The company's GPU business should remain the main growth driver, but other products, such as CPUs (central processing units), should contribute meaningfully over the medium term.
It is true that Broadcom is significantly diversified beyond its semiconductor solutions, notably thanks to its software segment. But Nvidia has also made an effort to diversify its business, and that could pay rich dividends down the road.
Do valuation considerations tip the scales in Broadcom's favor?
Which one of these two companies appears more attractively valued right now? Some might say it is Broadcom. It is trading at 19.4x forward earnings, versus Nvidia's 24.9x, and an average of 19.3x for information technology stocks. I'd buy Broadcom's shares at current levels, but Nvidia looks more attractive given its position in the AI industry and therefore deserves a higher premium. So, even with a higher forward price-to-earnings ratio, Nvidia could outperform Broadcom over the next five years.
Should you buy stock in Nvidia right now?
Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $361,596!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,303,935!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 910% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 23, 2026.
Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Amazon and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Broadcom, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Prediction: Nvidia Will Outperform Broadcom Over the Next 5 Years

The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) is up by +0.57% today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI) (DIA) is down by -0.11%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) is up +1.52%. December E-mini S&P futures (ESZ26) are up +0.58%, and December E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQZ26) are up +1.51%.
Stock indexes are mostly higher today, with chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks leading the broader market higher after last week’s selloff. Earnings optimism is lifting stocks ahead of this week's earnings results from Meta Platforms, Tesla, and Netflix. Also, weaker crude oil prices today have improved market sentiment and are supportive of stocks.
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On the downside, homebuilders are under pressure after today’s US economic news showed the Oct NAHB housing market index fell 3 points to a 14-year low of 29, below expectations of 31.
Mostly better-than-expected Chinese economic news is positive for global growth prospects and stocks. China Q3 GDP rose +1.2% q/q and +4.5% y/y, stronger than expectations of +1.0% q/q and +4.4% y/y. Also, China's Sep industrial production rose +5.5% y/y, right on expectations and the largest increase in 6 months. In addition, China's Sep retail sales rose +1.1% y/y, stronger than expectations of +0.5% y/y and the largest increase in 6 months. Finally, China's Sep surveyed jobless rate unexpectedly fell -0.1 to 5.2%, below the expected 5.3% and signaling a stronger labor market. On the downside, China's Sep new home prices fell -0.14% m/m, the fortieth consecutive month of declines.
Stocks have support from the prospect of solid quarterly earnings results. According to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence, Q3 S&P 500 earnings are expected to climb by +25% from a year earlier, up from a July estimate of 22%. As of today, 45 of the S&P 500 companies have reported results, with 80% beating estimates.
Nov WTI crude oil prices (CLX26) are moving lower today on some profit-taking after last week's rally to a 5-week high. US Energy Secretary Wright said Persian Gulf oil flows have recovered to about 80% of their pre-war level, though refined-product shipments remain constrained. Crude oil prices have underlying support from concerns about disruptions to Middle Eastern energy supplies after Houthi rebels in Yemen targeted Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, a significant Red Sea port for Saudi oil exports that avoids the Strait of Hormuz, with missiles and drones. Also, the UK Maritime Trade Operations reported that two tankers were attacked in the Persian Gulf near Saudi Arabia's port city of Jubail over the weekend.
Markets are discounting a 17% chance of a +25 bp Fed rate hike at the next FOMC meeting on October 27-28.
Overseas stock markets are mixed today. The Euro Stoxx 50 fell to a 1-week low today and is down -1.18%. China's Shanghai Composite closed up +0.39%. Japan's Nikkei-225 Stock Average fell to a 1-month low and closed down -0.62%.
Interest Rates
December 10-year T-notes (ZNZ6) are down -4 ticks. The 10-year T-note yield is up +3.2 bp to 5.127%. Today’s stock rally has reduced safe-haven demand for government debt, weighing on T-notes. Losses in T-notes are limited amid some safe-haven buying due to the social unrest in France. Weaker WTI crude oil prices today are also lowering inflation expectations and supporting T-notes.
European government bond yields are moving higher today. The 10-year German bund yield is up +3.6 bp to 3.462%. The 10-year UK gilt yield is up +5.7 bp to 5.430%.
The German Bundesbank said in a report today that "inflation risks in the Eurozone are clearly tilted to the upside."
Markets are discounting an 8% chance of a +25 bp ECB rate hike at the ECB’s next meeting on October 29.
US Stock Movers
Chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks are moving higher today, recovering some of last week’s rout. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) is up more than +2%. SanDisk (SNDK) is up more than +6% to lead gainers in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, and Western Digital (WDC) is up more than +6%. Also, Marvell Technology (MRVL) is up more than +5%, and Intel (INTC), Seagate Technology Holdings Plc (STX), Lam Research (LRCX), and Micron Technology (MU) are up more than +4%. In addition, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Applied Materials (AMAT) are up more than +3%, and Analog Devices (ADI), KLA Corp (KLAC), Broadcom (AVGO), and Qualcomm (QCOM) are up more than +2%.
The Magnificent Seven stocks, excluding Meta, are up today, supporting broader market gains. Amazon.com (AMZN) is up more than +4% to lead gainers in the Dow Jones Industrials, and Tesla (TSLA) is up more than +3%. Also, Nvidia (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT) are up more than +1%. In addition, Apple (AAPL) is up +0.14%. Conversely, Meta Platforms (META) is down -0.87%.
Cloud infrastructure stocks are climbing today. Applied Digital (APLD) is up more than +8%, and Nebius Group NV (NBIS) and Lumentum Holdings (LITE) are up more than +3%. Also, CoreWeave (CRWV) and Arista Networks (ANET) aew up more than +2%, and Oracle (ORCL) is up more than +1%.
Home builders and building supplies are slipping today after the US Oct NAHB housing market index fell more than expected to a 14-year low. DR Horton (DHI) and Pulte Group (PHM) are down more than -2%, and Lennar (LEN), KB Home (KBH), Toll Brothers (TOL), and Builders Firstsource (BLDR) are down more than -1%.
Disc Medicine (IRON) is up more than +39% after announcing that its investigational drug bitopertin met all primary and secondary endpoints in a Phase 3 Apollo trial in adults and adolescents with erythropoietic protoporphyria.
Cleveland Cliffs (CLF) is up more than +13% after reporting Q3 adjusted Ebitda of $612 million, above the consensus of $591.5 million.
Datadog (DDOG) is up more than +5% after Bernstein upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform with a price target of $350.
NRG Energy (NRG) is down more than -5% to lead losers in the S&P 500 after Jeffries cut its price target on the stock to $131 from $160.
Ameriprise Financial (AMP) is down more than -3% after Bank of America Global Research double-downgraded the stock to underperform from buy with a price target of $445.
Earnings Reports (10/19/2026)
AGNC Investment Corp (AGNC), BOK Financial Corp (BOKF), Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (CLF), Crown Holdings Inc (CCK), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), FNB Corp/PA (FNB), RLI Corp (RLI), Steel Dynamics Inc (STLD), W R Berkley Corp (WRB), Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL), Wintrust Financial Corp (WTFC), Zions Bancorp NA (ZION).
On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.

Strength in Chipmakers and AI-Infrastructure Stocks Lead the Broader Market Higher

Key Points
Nvidia leads in general purpose GPUs, while Broadcom provides custom chips.
AMD and Cerebras both have big opportunities in the inference market.
TSMC is at the center of many of the biggest trends in AI infrastructure.
Semiconductor stocks have come under pressure as investors question the durability of the AI infrastructure build-out, driven by financing concerns alongside uncertain AI utility and revenue projections. Gartner recently projected that AI revenue would not be able to support the current build-out and that the neocloud market would collapse by 2030.
However, cloud computing companies are seeing insatiable demand for AI infrastructure and seeing strong returns on their chip and networking investments. Even historically conservative companies like ASML Holding and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) have aggressively expanded their capacity to keep pace with surging demand for their machines and services. This would point to the current AI boom having a long, continued runway.
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
With the stocks under pressure, let's look at five semiconductor stocks to buy on the dip.
Nvidia
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the primary company fueling the AI boom with its graphics processing units (GPUs). These are the main chips used to run AI workloads, and as a result, Nvidia continues to see surging growth. Meanwhile, the company has created a wide moat in the chip market for AI training, as most original AI code was written on its CUDA software platform and optimized for its GPUs.
The stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) of just above 13.5 based on estimates for fiscal 2028 (ending January 2028), That makes it a steal at these levels if the AI infrastructure boom continues.
Broadcom
While Nvidia dominates the merchant AI accelerator market, Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) is the go-to company in the custom AI chip market. Hyperscalers have been increasingly designing their own custom chips to lower costs, and one of the main companies they turn to for help in developing these AI ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) is Broadcom. Among its customers are Alphabet, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Meta Platforms. With surging demand, Broadcom sees its custom chip revenue quadrupling to $230 billion over the next two years. With the stock trading at a forward P/E of 11 times fiscal 2028 estimates, the stock is a buy.
Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) is riding two powerful waves in inference and agentic AI. Its chiplet GPUs, which can be packaged with more memory, are great for inference, and the company has gotten large GPU commitments from OpenAI, Meta Platforms, and Anthropic for its GPUs. At the same time, AMD is seeing demand surge for its central processing units (CPUs), given the rise of agentic AI. Given its enormous growth opportunities ahead, the stock looks like a buy on the recent dip.
Cerebras Systems
Arguably the highest risk-reward name on the list is Cerebras Systems (NASDAQ: CBRS). Its wafer-sized SRAM-based chips provide lightning-fast speeds for inference. The company claims its systems provide 30 times the inference speeds versus GPUs and are six times faster than Nvidia's Groq-based language processing units (LPUs). However, they are also pricey and are only sold as part of a complete system due to their power consumption management and cooling requirements.
The company has signed a large deal with OpenAI and has formed a partnership with AMD on a disaggregated solution where its system handles the important decode phase of inference. If the company's systems can break into the mainstream, the stock could have huge upside. The recent dip, meanwhile, has sent the stock below its recent IPO price.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
As the largest foundry in the world, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is responsible for manufacturing the vast majority of advanced logic chips, including GPUs, custom AI ASICs, and CPUs. As such, it is riding the same trends that every other company on this list is benefiting from right now. At the same time, as the only chip manufacturer that has consistently shown it can make these advanced chips at high yields (low defect rates) at scale, it has become a vital cog in the semiconductor value chain while commanding strong pricing power.
At a forward P/E of 18 based on 2027 analyst estimates, the stock is attractively valued and a buy on this semiconductor sector pullback.
Should you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices right now?
Before you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Advanced Micro Devices wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $380,363!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,315,732!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 919% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 19, 2026.
Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, and Broadcom. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Broadcom, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool recommends Gartner. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Founded in 1993 in Alexandria, VA., by brothers David and Tom Gardner, The Motley Fool is a multimedia financial-services company dedicated to building the world's greatest investment community. Reaching millions of people each month through its website, books, newspaper column, radio show, television appearances, and subscription newsletter services, The Motley Fool champions shareholder values and advocates tirelessly for the individual investor. The company's name was taken from Shakespeare, whose wise fools both instructed and amused, and could speak the truth to the king -- without getting their heads lopped off.

Semiconductor Sell-Off: 5 Stocks to Buy on the Dip

Key Points
The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) has delivered impressive annualized returns of 24.7% for the past 10 years, outperforming the high-flying Nasdaq-100 index.
VGT does not own certain well-known tech names because of their sector classification.
Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Broadcom are four of the five largest holdings in VGT, making up about 49% of the fund’s assets.
When investing in tech exchange-traded funds (ETFs), sometimes it's a good idea to peek under the hood and see what you're really buying within each fund's portfolio. Sometimes there is a lot of overlap from one tech ETF to another. This can make it easier to choose the best tech ETF for your goals, based on which fund holds which mix of stocks and sectors.
The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEMKT: VGT) is a popular tech fund that holds 318 stocks. It represents a wide range of companies in the electronics and computer industries, including semiconductors, software, hardware, and tech-related services and components. And VGT is a passive index fund, so it doesn't pick stocks -- it just tracks the performance of its tech sector benchmark.
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
When you buy VGT, you're going to get a strong concentration of major tech names that are also top holdings in the S&P 500 index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) and Nasdaq-100 index. But how much of VGT is just a few major tech stocks that you can buy in other ETFs?
A large percentage of assets of the Vanguard Information Technology ETF is made up of only four big-name tech tickers: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO). As of Sept. 30, those four stocks represented about 49% of the VGT fund's assets.
If you feel like VGT is getting too top-heavy with just these four tech names, or you want to own a different mix of stocks, this could affect your investment choices. Let's take a closer look at VGT and its concentration of tech majors NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, and AVGO.
Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT): 22 years of 15% annualized returns
The Vanguard Information Technology ETF has delivered strong returns for investors, with average annual returns of 15.03% since the fund's inception in January 2004. It's done even better in the past few years, with about 24.7% annualized returns in the past 10 years, 20.9% in the past five years, 35% in the past three years, and about 35.2% in the past year.
Unlike many popular tech ETFs, VGT is somewhat unique for some of the well-known "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks that it does not own. For example, the VGT fund does not hold Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, or Tesla. That's because although these companies are frequently described as "tech stocks," they are not technically part of the information technology sector as defined by the MSCI US IMI Information Technology 25/50 Index, which is the benchmark that VGT follows.
But the mix of growth stocks in VGT has been pretty successful. VGT has strongly outperformed the Nasdaq-100 during the past 10 years.
VGT: Concentration of NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, and AVGO (49% of the fund)
The U.S. stock market has become top-heavy with tech stocks in recent years due to major gains from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The Vanguard Information Technology ETF is no exception to that trend. But if you're concerned about making too concentrated an investment in just four stocks, this could be worth paying attention to.
Let's look at the top holdings and weights of VGT and see how they compare to typical S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 index funds.
Stock ETF:
Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT)
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)
Invesco Nasdaq-100 ETF (QQQM)
Top 10 stock holdings by weight (% of fund)
1. Nvidia: 17.6%
2. Apple: 15.9%
3. Microsoft: 11.2%
4. Micron: 4.45%
5. Broadcom: 4.1%
6. Advanced Micro Devices: 3.7%
7. Intel: 1.98%
8. Cisco: 1.6%
9. Lam Research Group: 1.55%
10. Palantir: 1.55%
(as of Sept. 30)
1. Nvidia: 8.4%
2. Apple: 7.4%
3. Microsoft: 5.8%
4. Alphabet: 5.5% (Class A and Class C shares, combined)
5. Amazon: 3.7%
6. Broadcom: 2.5%
7. Meta Platforms: 2.4%
8. Micron: 1.8%
9. Tesla: 1.5%
10. Advanced Micro Devices: 1.5%
(as of Sept. 30)
1. Nvidia: 8.2%
2. Apple: 7.7%
3. Microsoft: 6.10%
4. Alphabet: 6.06 (Class A and Class C shares, combined)
5. Micron: 4.4%
6. Amazon: 4.2%
7. Advanced Micro Devices: 3.96%
8. Meta Platforms: 3.4%
9. Tesla: 2.97%
10. Space Exploration Technologies: 2.8%
11. Broadcom: 2.54%
(as of Oct. 14)
Combined weight of NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, and AVGO
48.8%
24.1%
24.5%
Expense ratio
0.09%
0.03%
0.15%
Who this fund is good for:
Investors who want a tech ETF that has beaten the Nasdaq-100 for 10 years -- although it's more concentrated in these four stocks.
Investors who want to own the S&P 500 index of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. -- including non-tech stocks.
Investors who want to own a tech-heavy ETF of the 100 largest non-financial stocks in the Nasdaq, including some stocks that VGT doesn't own.
If you like the mix of stocks in the Vanguard Information Technology ETF and you're impressed by its long-term track record of beating the Nasdaq-100 index, then VGT could be a good choice. But if you're concerned that VGT is too concentrated in just four stocks (NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, and AVGO), you could own those four stocks with broader diversification just by buying an S&P 500 ETF or a Nasdaq-100 ETF.
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 14x Bigger
Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005.
But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout, a massive technology build-out that Google’s CEO says could be more profound than fire or electricity.
While everyone watches the chip designers, one "backbone" company provides the critical technology that Nvidia and AMD literally cannot function without. We’ve detailed this under-the-radar player in our new AI Playbook.
Ben Gran has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Intel, Lam Research, Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, Tesla, and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Own VGT? Here's How Much of It Is Really Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Broadcom.

AGI Is Almost Ready. Is Your Portfolio?
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 »
When Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang posted on X in September that “AGI has arrived,” it raised many eyebrows across the markets. Now, as the man selling the robots that he claims have surpassed human intelligence, he certainly has a vested interest in declaring this milestone. But what is artificial general intelligence (AGI), and why does it matter to investors?
You should count yourself an interested party if you own any of the Magnificent 7 stocks, or companies that do business with those giants. Or even if you simply work for a living. You have a stake in whether AGI is on its way.
In plain English, AGI is artificial intelligence that’s as capable as a skilled worker at most jobs.
Today’s AI models may be decent coders or data analysts, but they can’t work for long stretches without supervision or pick up new skills as they go. AGI, however, could theoretically replace one of your co-workers, or you.
For companies building AI, a more practical question is when AGI starts making money, so some measure the milestone in dollars. Huang, for instance, told podcaster Lex Fridman in March that true AGI would be capable of building a billion-dollar company (a bar he believes today’s AI clears).
Let’s look at how researchers define the stages along the way to AGI and beyond.
Level
What It Can Do
Where We Are
1. Narrow AI
Specializes in a specific task (chess, spam filters)
Already built and widely used
2. Generative AI
Writes, codes, and more, but needs a human to check its work
Today’s chatbots, such as Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT
3. Artificial general intelligence
Does most work a capable human can, unsupervised
Achieved according to Huang, disputed by many researchers
4. Artificial super intelligence
Beats the best humans at nearly everything
Hypothetical
Today’s best models are on that second rung, mostly because of the supervision problem mentioned above. Research group METR found that the longer the task, the worse AI does; and when left alone on a job that would take a person two workdays, top models succeed only about half the time. That’s unreliable enough that your co-worker’s desk remains occupied, for now.
GPT-6, the model Huang praised, is too new to have undergone METR’s testing, so its reliability for long tasks is unproved. That leaves the open question of how close we are to AGI. You’ll notice each tech leader’s view tends to align with what’s best for their business.
How Close Are We?
It depends on whom you ask.
ALREADY HERE
Huang has declared AGI’s arrival twice this year, first on a March podcast and again in his September post about GPT-6. Of the seven leaders on this list, he’s the only one who says the threshold is already behind us.
NEXT MODEL
Musk keeps setting deadlines for AGI, and he keeps missing them. He predicted in 2024 that AGI would arrive by 2025, then pushed his forecast to 2026. He now says xAI’s next major model, Grok 5, will be the one to reach it.
BY DECEMBER
Sam Altman, OpenAI
Huang called OpenAI’s new model AGI, but OpenAI’s own CEO hasn’t gone that far. A week before GPT-6 launched, Altman told Time that OpenAI was “not quite yet” there, though he expects an internal system he would call AGI by year-end. His chief research officer puts the company “80% of the way” to AGI.
IN SIGHT
Zuckerberg rarely discusses AGI. He skipped straight to “superintelligence,” or ASI, and Meta’s annual report now lists delivering “personal superintelligence for everyone” as part of its vision. In a July 2025 letter, he wrote that Meta had “begun to see glimpses of our AI systems improving themselves.”
EARLY 2030s
Pichai expects AGI shortly after 2030. Until then, he says, we’re in an era of “artificial jagged intelligence,” where models solve advanced coding and science problems yet stumble over tasks a child could handle. His caution hasn’t slowed Alphabet’s spending, though, since he told investors in July that competing at the frontier of AGI development is the company’s first priority.
PROOF FIRST
Jassy hasn’t put a date on AGI, and Amazon’s AGI chief, Peter DeSantis, said in June that models need to be about 100 times more efficient before AI comes close. So Amazon makes sure it already has committed contracts for much of the new capacity it builds. AWS customers have signed $496 billion in contracts for future services, meaning they’ve committed to spending more than twice what Amazon itself is spending this year.
WRONG QUESTION
Satya Nadella, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Nadella, the group’s contrarian, described companies announcing their own AGI milestones as “nonsensical benchmark hacking” and believes AI should be measured by its ability to drive economic growth. He also cautioned that AI models are getting commoditized, so most of AI’s profits will go to companies selling the software and cloud platforms that businesses run AI on. That view happens to serve Microsoft, which owns Windows, Office, and Azure.
Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) leaders have said little about AGI, figuring that however smart AI gets, it will need a place to live ... and Apple already owns that real estate, in more than a billion pockets.
Setting CEOs’ incentives aside, the model that set off this debate offers evidence for both camps. Here’s how GPT-6 Astra, the OpenAI release behind Huang’s post, stacks up.
Signs AGI is close
Reasons for doubt
Astra can control computer systems on its own, from spreadsheets to full websites
When Astra doesn’t know an answer, it makes one up about half the time instead of admitting it, per evaluator Artificial Analysis
Astra scored 98% on FrontierMath Tier 4, a set of research-level math problems
Independent testing found Astra only tied Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5.1 on overall intelligence
Regardless of a consensus around whether AGI is here or not, what’s inarguable is that the gap between AI and AGI is shrinking with every new model release. For investors, the bigger opportunity is who profits on the way to AGI.
Who Cashes In on AGI
JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) estimates the biggest cloud companies will spend about 93% of operating cash flow on AI this year, up from 33% in 2023. Alphabet even announced plans in June to sell up to $84.75 billion of new stock to help fund its build-out.
If AGI shows up sooner rather than later, these companies could earn back their spending many times over. But if progress stalls, the industry could end up with far more data centers than it can fill.
Meanwhile, these companies are especially well-positioned to benefit from all that spending.
Nvidia: At the risk of stating the obvious, Nvidia’s chips run a large share of the world’s AI data centers. Last quarter, its sales more than doubled to $96.2 billion. Management expects about 90% growth this quarter, yet Nvidia still can’t make chips fast enough to meet demand. Every step closer to AGI means labs need more computing power, and Nvidia is the company selling that horsepower.
Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO): Broadcom designs custom AI chips for Alphabet, Meta and OpenAI, all of whom want cheaper alternatives to Nvidia’s pricey GPUs. Its AI chip sales more than tripled last quarter to $16.7 billion, and management expects AI revenue to roughly double to about $115 billion next fiscal year. That Broadcom and Nvidia both more than doubled AI sales suggests demand can support multiple winners.
Alphabet: Alphabet develops frontier AI models of its own while renting computing power to peers building theirs. That rental business is booming, as Google Cloud revenue grew 82% last quarter to $24.8 billion. Its cloud backlog, which counts work customers have committed to but Alphabet hasn’t delivered yet, reached $514 billion, and just over half of it should turn into revenue within two years.
Big tech is increasingly borrowing to fund its AI build-out, and lenders have started charging more for that debt. Alphabet spent more cash than it brought in last quarter, which hadn’t happened since it went public in 2004. If any major spender decided to slow its build-out, all three of these companies would likely feel it at once.
The Bottom Line
While we wait for AGI to arrive, investors can prepare.
Know your exposure: The Magnificent 7 make up roughly a third of the S&P 500, so an index fund already ties a big share of your money to the AI build-out. Add in any other tech stocks you own, and your stake is likely bigger than you think.
Favor companies with paying customers: Look for AI businesses with rising sales and signed contracts (e.g., Google Cloud’s $514 billion backlog) over companies counting on a breakthrough years from now.
Think in years: If AGI is a decade out, there’s no rush to buy everything at once. Dollar-cost averaging lowers the risk of buying at a peak.
When AGI arrives, you won’t need to hear it from the man selling robots, since it’ll be written all over the economy and in your portfolios.
What’s one stock you’re holding on the belief that AGI will transform the markets?
Share with friends and family, or become a member to hear what your fellow Fools are saying!
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again
In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. If you’d invested $5,000 then, you’d be sitting on $2,783,470 today.*
Now, for the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. It’s a key player in the $1.8 trillion space race, and with the stock recently sitting 20% off its highs, the window to get in early is closing fast.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 18, 2026.
JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Lou Whiteman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Broadcom, JPMorgan Chase, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Founded in 1993 in Alexandria, VA., by brothers David and Tom Gardner, The Motley Fool is a multimedia financial-services company dedicated to building the world's greatest investment community. Reaching millions of people each month through its website, books, newspaper column, radio show, television appearances, and subscription newsletter services, The Motley Fool champions shareholder values and advocates tirelessly for the individual investor. The company's name was taken from Shakespeare, whose wise fools both instructed and amused, and could speak the truth to the king -- without getting their heads lopped off.

Breakfast News: The Sunday Edition

Key Points
Nvidia is the king of AI and set to see continued strong growth in the years ahead.
Broadcom is poised to see huge growth from its custom chip business.
TSMC has a near monopoly and is positioned to be one of the biggest AI infrastructure winners.
If you're looking to build a portfolio of artificial intelligence (AI) stocks with $3,000, you can't go wrong with buying shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM). With that amount, you could buy five shares of Nvidia, three of Broadcom, and two of TSMC for under $3,000.
If the AI infrastructure build-out continues, I think that investment could be worth over $9,000 by the end of 2030, a more-than-threefold return in a little over four years. The biggest risk, of course, is an AI slowdown, but right now, growth appears robust, and demand for AI chips outstrips supply. Let's look at how an investment in these three top AI stocks could triple.
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
Nvidia is the AI king with its graphics processing units (GPUs), and it looks well-positioned to remain a big winner in the space over the next few years. The company continues to grow rapidly and has already forecast a 70% increase in revenue next fiscal year.
Analysts currently project that Nvidia's revenue will climb to nearly $1.2 trillion in its 2031 fiscal year (ending in January 2031) and its adjusted earnings per share (EPS) will hit $28.79.
However, Nvidia has consistently cruised past analyst estimates over the past few years, and I think that will continue. Based on my own estimates, the company could generate over $1.9 trillion in revenue in fiscal 2031 and deliver adjusted earnings of almost $41.50 per share.
Metric
Fiscal 2027
Fiscal 2028
Fiscal 2029
Fiscal 2030
Fiscal 2031
Revenue
$412 billion
$700 billion
$1.05 trillion
$1.47 trillion
$1.91 trillion
Revenue growth
90%
70%
50%
40%
30%
Gross profit
$309 billion
$518 billion
$767 billion
$1.06 trillion
$1.34 trillion
Adjusted operating expense
$35 billion
$53 billion
$81 billion
$123 billion
$186 billion
Operating income
$274 billion
$465 billion
$686 billion
$936 billion
$1.15 trillion
Net income
$233 billion
$395 billion
$583 billion
$796 billion
$979 billion
EPS
$9.66
$16.74
$24.69
$33.70
$41.47
I find Nvidia's stock cheap, and think it could rerate higher to a forward P/E multiple of 20 in the coming years. If it can reach my projections, that would value the stock at $830, representing a nearly fourfold increase. Meanwhile, those five shares would be worth $4,150 in 2030.
Hyperscalers are increasingly turning to custom AI chips to lower costs, and the company they frequently enlist to develop these chips is Broadcom. As a result, the semiconductor company has some of the best growth opportunities in the AI infrastructure space. It also has some great visibility given the roadmap for these design projects, forecasting that its custom chip business will double next fiscal year, then double again the following year to $230 billion.
Analysts currently anticipate the company will earn $52.15 per share in fiscal 2031 (ending October). Place a 20-times forward P/E multiple on the stock, and it would trade at $1,043 in 2030, triple its current price. Three shares would then be worth over $3,100.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
With sales of GPUs, custom AI accelerators, and central processing units (CPUs) all expected to surge in the coming year, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is poised for strong growth over the next five years and beyond. The company is the world's largest foundry and has a virtual monopoly on manufacturing the most advanced logic chips powering AI data centers. If AI spending continues to soar, its stock will follow.
The furthest-out EPS consensus for the stock is $28.03 in 2028, but if we project another 25% EPS growth in 2029, 20% in 2030, and another 15% in 2031, that would bring the adjusted EPS target to roughly $48.35 in 2031. Place a 20-times forward P/E on the stock, and it would be worth $967 in 2030, more than double its current price. Two shares, meanwhile, would be worth over $1,900.
Should you buy stock in Broadcom right now?
Before you buy stock in Broadcom, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Broadcom wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $380,363!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,315,732!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 919% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 17, 2026.
Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Broadcom. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Broadcom, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

$3,000 Split Across Nvidia, Broadcom, and TSMC Could Be Worth This Much by 2030

Key Points
Broadcom has massive and growing orders for its custom AI chips.
The stock could easily double by the end of 2028 if the company hits its own projections.
When investors think about AI chipmakers, they may think first of Nvidia or AMD. However, one competitor that most forget about is Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO). Why? It's simple: Broadcom only makes computing units for giant customers, not consumers. However, this is a huge opportunity that shouldn't be ignored, because the growth that Broadcom's management team is guiding for is simply incredible.
If you've got $10,000 sitting around (or any other dollar figure, for that matter), I can think of few better places to invest it, because that $10,000 could be worth $20,000 by the end of 2028.
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 »
What makes Broadcom different?
AMD and Nvidia make graphics processing units (GPUs), parallel processors that are great at handling a wide range of computationally heavy workloads. GPUs don't have a weakness, but their potential often goes underutilized. Countless GPUs have been stuck running a single type of workload throughout their service life, which leaves some of their incredible capabilities wasted. AI hyperscalers would be better off using a purpose-built computing chip in these applications, which is where Broadcom steps in.
Broadcom partners with its hyperscaler clients to design custom AI computing units powered by proprietary chips that only have the capacities that the client's workloads require. While these units aren't as flexible as GPUs, they provide far better cost performance than a GPU on properly configured workloads. This helps AI hyperscalers maximize their computing potential at lower cost, which is particularly appealing as funds become harder to come by.
Broadcom has several big-name clients, including Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Meta Platforms, Anthropic, and OpenAI. While all of its clients are ramping up their AI infrastructure spending, none have had a more successful product than Alphabet. Alphabet and Broadcom collaborated to design the Tensor Processing Unit (TPU). This unit has been around for a while, and has gone through several generations. Google Cloud clients can rent access to TPUs on that computing platform. But TPUs are so impressive that Alphabet has begun to expand beyond leasing their compute power in its data centers, and is now starting to sell them directly to external customers like Meta as well.
Orders for custom AI chips across the board are ramping up, and that's the reason why Broadcom could be an excellent investment to make right now.
Broadcom's chip business will grow about 4x in two years
This year, Broadcom expects its AI semiconductor revenue to come in around $57.6 billion. Next year, that figure is expected to rise to $115 billion. To top it off, Broadcom also has visibility to $230 billion in AI semiconductor revenue by 2028, and has secured the supply chain to deliver on this projection. That's about a fourfold increase in two years, which is simply incredible.
But what will that mean for Broadcom's stock?
Broadcom also has non-AI businesses, but these aren't growing nearly as fast. Wall Street analysts estimate $106 billion in revenue this year, indicating about $48 billion in non-AI revenue. If these businesses grow at a 10% clip in 2027 and 2028, that would indicate $58 billion in non-AI revenue. Altogether, that's about $288 billion in revenue by 2028.
In its most recent quarter, Broadcom generated a 44% profit margin, but let's reduce that to 40% to bake some conservatism into the estimate. Revenue of $288 billion and a 40% profit margin indicates $115 billion in profit. If we assign Broadcom a reasonable 30 times earnings, that would result in a $3.45 trillion company.
Currently, Broadcom is a $1.65 trillion company. So, a $10,000 investment now will easily turn into $20,000 by the end of 2028 if the projections above pan out.
Should you buy stock in Broadcom right now?
Before you buy stock in Broadcom, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Broadcom wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $380,363!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,315,732!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 919% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 17, 2026.
Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet, Broadcom, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Broadcom, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Here's What $10,000 Invested in Broadcom Will Be Worth by 2028

The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) closed down by -1.09% on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI) (DIA) closed down by -0.34%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) closed down -2.50%. December E-mini S&P futures (ESZ26) fell -1.14%, and December E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQZ26) fell -2.51%.
Stock indexes sold off sharply on Friday, with the S&P 500 falling to a 2-week low and the Nasdaq 100 dropping to a 1-month low. Selling in chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks led the market lower on Friday, driven by concerns about whether companies will see returns on their huge investments in the AI infrastructure buildout. Also, CoreWeave sank more than -11% to weigh on cloud infrastructure stocks as concerns about the company’s credit risk linger.
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Stock losses accelerated Friday afternoon as crude oil prices soared more than 3% to a 1-month high, raising inflation expectations and fueling fears the Fed will keep raising interest rates to contain inflation.
Higher bond yields undercut stocks after Fed Chair Warsh made no remarks on monetary policy or his outlook for the US economy late Thursday evening at the IMF annual meeting in Bangkok. The 10-year T-note yield rose +1 bp to 5.09%.
Friday’s US economic news was mixed for stocks. The Sep import price index ex-petroleum rose +0.8% m/m, stronger than expectations of +0.6% m/m, the largest increase in 5 months and a sign of price pressures. However, Sep manufacturing production rose +0.3% m/m, right on expectations.
Stocks have support from the prospect of solid quarterly earnings results that began this week. Goldman Sachs on Monday raised its three-month view on global equity markets to overweight from neutral, saying. “Earnings growth remains supportive for equities and the recent valuation de-rating has improved asymmetry into the third-quarter earnings season.” According to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence, Q3 S&P 500 earnings are expected to climb by +25% from a year earlier, up from a July estimate of 22%. As of Friday, 40 of the S&P 500 companies have reported results, with 78% beating estimates.
Nov WTI crude oil prices (CLX26) surged more than +3% on Friday to a 1-month high. Crude prices rallied on Friday amid a weaker dollar and concerns that escalating Middle East hostilities could disrupt regional energy supplies. Prices race to their highs Friday afternoon after US lawmakers introduced a bill to block President Trump’s deal with Russia to release several hundred million barrels of diesel fuel.
Markets are discounting a 17% chance of a +25 bp Fed rate hike at the next FOMC meeting on October 27-28.
Overseas stock markets settled higher on Friday. The Euro Stoxx 50 closed up +0.58%. China's Shanghai Composite closed up +0.24%. Japan's Nikkei-225 Stock Average closed up +1.39%.
Interest Rates
December 10-year T-notes (ZNZ6) closed down -2.5 ticks on Friday. The 10-year T-note yield rose +2.7 bp to 5.085%. Dec T-notes were under pressure Friday after Fed Chair Warsh's lack of guidance at the annual IMF meeting in Bangkok weighed on T-notes. Also, Friday’s +3% surge in WTI crude oil to a 1-month high raised inflation expectations and weighed on T-notes. Friday’s stock plunge sparked safe-haven buying of government debt and limited T-note losses.
European government bond yields were mixed on Friday. The 10-year German bund yield rose +1.3 bp to 3.426%. The 10-year UK gilt yield fell -0.2 bp to 5.373%.
ECB Governing Council member and Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said. "The ECB has raised interest rates twice, and if the situation remains as it is, we don't rule out the possibility that we may have to take further action."
Markets are discounting a 10% chance of a +25 bp ECB rate hike at the ECB’s next meeting on October 29.
US Stock Movers
Chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks continued their week-long slide on Friday, weighing on the broader market. Seagate Technology Holdings Plc (STX) closed down more than -7%, and Western Digital (WDC), SanDisk (SNDK), and ARM Holdings Plc (ARM) closed down more than -6%. Also, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Micron Technology (MU), Intel (INTC), and Marvell Technology (MRVL) closed down more than -5%, and Lam Research (LRCX), KLA Corp (KLAC), Applied Materials (AMAT), and Broadcom (AVGO) closed down more than -4%. In addition,
CoreWeave (CRWV) closed down more than -11% to weigh on cloud infrastructure stocks as debt concerns linger after swaps priced in more than a 50% chance the company will default on its debt within five years. Also, Nebius Group NV (NBIS) closed down more than -12% to lead losers in the Nasdaq 100, and Applied Digital (APLD) closed down more than -11%. In addition, Lumentum Holdings (LITE) closed down more than -5%, and Oracle (ORCL) and Arista Networks (ANET) closed down more than -4%.
The Magnificent Seven stocks, excluding Apple, fell on Friday and weighed on the overall market. Meta Platforms (META) closed down more than -3%, and Alphabet (GOOGL) closed down more than -2% to lead losers in the Dow Jones Industrials. Also, Tesla (TSLA) closed down more than -2%, and Amazon.com (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Nvidia (NVDA) closed down more than -1%. Apple (AAPL) bucked the trend and closed up +0.43%.
Cybersecurity stocks retreated on Friday. Okta (OKTA) closed down more than -10%, and SentinelOne (S), Fortinet (FTNT), Crowdstrike Holdings (CRWD), and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) closed down more than -7%. Also, Cloudflare (NET) closed down more than -6%, Zscaler (ZS) closed down more than -5%, and Gen Digital (GEN) closed down more than -2%.
Energy producers and service providers rallied on Friday after WTI crude oil rose more than +3% to a 1-month high. APA Corp (APA) closed up more than +4%, and Diamondback Energy (FANG) closed up more than +4% to lead gainers in the Nasdaq 100. Also, ConocoPhillips (COP) and Devon Energy (DVN) closed up more than +3%, and Chevron (CVX) closed up more than +2% to lead gainers in the Dow Jones industrials. In addition, Baker Hughes (BKR), ExxonMobil Holdings (XOM), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), and SLB Ltd (SLB) closed up more than +2%, and Halliburton (HAL) and Phillips 66 (PSX) closed up more than +1%.
Defense contractors rose on Friday as the companies are set to benefit from increased defense spending. Northrop Grumman (NOC) closed up more than +4%, and Lockheed Martin (LMT), RTX Corp (RTX), and L3Harris Technologies (LHX) closed up more than +3%. Also, General Dynamics (GD) closed up more than +2%, and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) closed up more than +1%.
Defensive food producers moved higher on Friday amid the slump in the broader market. Kraft Heinz Co (KHC), McCormick & Co (MKC), J M Smucker (SJM), Hershey Co (HSY), Hormel Foods (HRL), and Mondelez International (MDLZ) closed up more than +1%.
Omeros (OMER) closed down more than -14% after the European Medicines Agency issued a negative opinion on the company’s application for its narsoplimab therapy.
Earnings Reports (10/19/2026)
AGNC Investment Corp (AGNC), BOK Financial Corp (BOKF), Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (CLF), Crown Holdings Inc (CCK), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), FNB Corp/PA (FNB), RLI Corp (RLI), Steel Dynamics Inc (STLD), W R Berkley Corp (WRB), Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL), Wintrust Financial Corp (WTFC), Zions Bancorp NA (ZION).
On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.

Stock Indexes Finish Sharply Lower as Tech Stocks Plunge

This Week
A LOT happened this week, but mainly fell into three themes: oil disruptions, inflation and the Federal Reserve, and the artificial intelligence (AI) trade.
U.S. oil prices climbed $10 this week to over $100 per barrel for multiple reasons:
The Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia multiple times, including the “nerve center” of oil producer Saudi Aramco, escalating the wider Iran conflict.
Iran ramped up attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz with the most attacks since the start of the conflict.
U.S. inflation higher than expected, but Fed is signaling October pause.
Headline CPI inflation rose to 3.7% per annum (p.a.) from 3.4% and core CPI rose to 2.6% p.a. from 2.4%. Both were above expectations (3.6% for headline and 2.5% for core). The trouble (for the Fed) is that, while over three-quarters of the increase came from energy, the increase was more broad-based than expected (and Thursday’s producer price inflation data wasn’t any better).
The AI trade faced pressure from multiple sources:
A top Chinese memory chip producer said it’s near making cutting-edge chips, potentially challenging leading producers, like SK Hynix and Samsung.
Mega-cap AVGO CEO said “a lot” of AI investors have “no clue what they are investing in,” likening it to gambling.
After all that, 10-year Treasury yields are down about 15 basis points this week to 5.1% (likely seeing some safe-haven demand), and the Nasdaq-100® is down 5%.
Next Week
Here are the top events I’m watching next week:
Wednesday: META Earnings (Q3), TSLA Earnings (Q3)
Thursday: Jobless Claims (week ending Oct. 17)
Friday: S&P Manufacturing and Services PMIs (October Preliminary)
© 2026, Nasdaq, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
My Quotes

Chartstopper: October 16, 2026

Key Points
Broadcom provides a massive, high-margin portfolio of semiconductors and infrastructure software with billions in free cash flow.
Marvell Technology is a fast-growing pure play on data infrastructure, heavily concentrated in the data center and AI markets.
Which semiconductor stock deserves a spot in your portfolio?
As artificial intelligence demand reshapes the global economy, two chip giants are vying for dominance in the data center. Choosing between Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) and Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) requires balancing size against growth.
Broadcom is a diversified infrastructure titan with a foot in both hardware and software. Marvell focuses heavily on specialized silicon for data infrastructure. This comparison evaluates which of these high-performing companies offers the most compelling opportunity for investors seeking exposure to the next decade of digital transformation.
The case for Broadcom
Broadcom designs and sells semiconductors and infrastructure software for networking, wireless connectivity, and servers. In its latest annual report, filed for the period ending in late 2025, the company highlighted its expansive customer base, which includes major cloud providers and mobile device manufacturers. Sales to distributors accounted for nearly 48% of revenue, and the top five end customers represented roughly 40% of sales. Customer concentration like this adds a layer of risk to the business. Broadcom maintains significant commercial agreements, including a $200 billion memorandum of understanding with Samsung and a $30 billion commitment with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). It also recently settled a dispute with AT&T (NYSE:T) regarding software support options.
In the fiscal year ended Nov. 2, 2025, revenue reached nearly $63.9 billion, representing a growth of approximately 23.9% compared with the prior fiscal year. The company reported net income of roughly $23.1 billion for the same period. This resulted in a strong net margin of approximately 36.2%, reflecting the scale of its semiconductor stocks operations and high-value software integrations like VMware.
As of its November 2025 balance sheet, the debt-to-equity ratio was roughly 0.8x. This ratio compares total debt to shareholder equity, indicating its level of financial leverage. The current ratio, which measures a company's ability to pay short-term obligations with short-term assets, was approximately 1.7x. Free cash flow for the fiscal year ended Nov. 2, 2025, was nearly $26.9 billion. Note that stock-based compensation represented roughly 27.5% of operating cash flow, which inflates reported cash generation since SBC is a non-cash expense added back in the cash flow statement.
The case for Marvell Technology
Marvell Technology focuses on semiconductor solutions for data infrastructure, specifically targeting AI, cloud, and carrier markets. In its latest annual report, the company stated that its data center segment drove approximately 74% of revenue. Marvell receives a large portion of its revenue from a limited pool of clients, with its ten largest customers representing roughly 82% of total net revenue. Customer concentration like this adds a layer of risk to the business. Two specific customers (one distributor and one direct client) each accounted for at least 10% of total net revenue in its most recent fiscal year.
In the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2026, revenue reached approximately $8.2 billion, a significant increase of roughly 42.1% year over year. The company reported net income of nearly $2.7 billion, which is a notable improvement over the net losses reported in the previous two fiscal years. Its net margin reached approximately 32.6%, highlighting the profitability of its specialized silicon products as AI infrastructure spending surged.
According to its January 2026 balance sheet, the debt-to-equity ratio was approximately 0.3x, showing a relatively low level of debt compared to its equity. Its current ratio was roughly 2.0x, indicating a solid buffer for meeting short-term financial commitments. Free cash flow for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2026, was approximately $1.4 billion. Note that stock-based compensation represented roughly 33.8% of operating cash flow, which inflates reported cash generation since SBC is a non-cash expense added back in the cash flow statement.
Risk profile comparison
Broadcom faces risks from high customer concentration among hyperscalers and distributors. The company operates in a cyclical industry prone to rapid price changes and demand shifts, which is particularly visible in the volatile demand for AI infrastructure. Broadcom is also subject to geopolitical and regulatory risks, including trade restrictions and antitrust scrutiny over its VMware integration. High debt levels from its acquisition strategy may also limit financial flexibility during economic downturns.
Marvell is vulnerable to supply chain issues because it uses a fabless model, relying on third-party foundries mostly located in Taiwan. It faces intense competition from established giants like Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). Furthermore, internal chip development by major cloud providers could eventually replace some of its products. Geopolitical tensions with China and export controls on advanced chips represent additional threats to its demand and licensing abilities.
Valuation comparison
Broadcom looks more affordable on both future earnings estimates and sales multiples despite having a much larger total market capitalization.
Metric
Broadcom
Marvell Technology
Forward P/E
29.9x
59.6x
P/S ratio
18.7x
23.2x
Valuation metrics include sourcing from Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) and may differ from other data providers.
The P/S ratio measures market capitalization against sales over the past twelve months. The Forward P/E ratio compares the current stock price to projected earnings per share based on future earnings estimates.
Which stock would I buy in 2026?
I'd go with Broadcom. Its custom AI accelerator business has become one of the most sought-after partnerships in the semiconductor industry, with supply commitments already secured to double AI revenue again next year. A customer roster that includes Alphabet's Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic is about as strong an endorsement as the AI industry can offer, and free cash flow is expanding alongside revenue.
Marvell is a strong contender. In its most recent quarter, revenue hit a record, the company guided for accelerating growth, and a strategic investment from Nvidia signals that its custom AI chip business has attracted serious attention. Marvell's stock has also outperformed Broadcom's this year, which has drawn investor interest. But the underlying business growth tells a different story: Broadcom's AI revenue is actually expanding faster, on top of a much larger base, which is a combination that is harder to find than it might seem.
What tips the scales for me is Broadcom's locked-in revenue commitments stretching years into the future, giving it a level of forward visibility that makes it the clearer long-term pick. Knowing your most important customers are committed years ahead makes a stock much easier to own through the inevitable rough patches.
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Sara Appino has positions in Apple and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Broadcom, Intel, Marvell Technology, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.