Broadcom expects strong growth from its custom AI accelerators.
Custom AI accelerator revenue is expected to double in Q1.
Few stocks had as strong a 2025 as Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO). Broadcom's stock caught fire following the tariff announcement recovery, and finished the year up 49.3%. While 2025 was great, investors need to look forward and see if it's worth buying more shares now or if there is another compelling investment opportunity.
I think Broadcom will undergo some massive changes throughout 2026, and its business shift makes it well worth holding on to. Broadcom's custom artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator chips are starting to become incredibly popular, and could even start challenging Nvidia in 2026 for AI computing dominance.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »
Image source: Getty Images.
Broadcom does a lot of different things: It provides mainframe hardware and software, cybersecurity, virtual desktops via its VMWare acquisition, networking equipment, and countless other product lines. However, that's not where the business's focus is. Instead, it's pouring all of its efforts into building out its custom AI accelerator chip business.
Currently, graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia are the go-to computing units for training and running artificial intelligence models. Make no mistake, GPUs are the most capable computing units available for processing a wide variety of workloads. However, with the progress that has been made on the generative AI front, most companies know what their workloads are going to look like. As a result, they can design a computing unit around these workloads. The chips are known as ASICs, or application-specific integrated circuits. These chips can offer better performance at a cheaper price point, at the cost of flexibility.
This business is growing at a rapid pace for Broadcom, as it's becoming the go-to partner for these chips. Broadcom is partnering directly with AI hyperscalers to design these chips, and gets revenue from each one that its clients purchase. The most famous example of a Broadcom ASIC is Google's Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), which has long been renowned for its capabilities.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, ended Nov. 2, AI semiconductor revenue rose 74% year over year to $6.5 billion. For reference, Broadcom's total revenue for Q4 was $18 billion. In Q1, it expects $8.2 billion in AI semiconductor revenue, up 100% year over year. Q1's total revenue is projected to be $19.1 billion. Broadcom is quickly becoming an AI semiconductor investment, and this will help it soar throughout 2026.
As we progress throughout 2026, I'd expect AI semiconductors to make up more than half of Broadcom's sales, and even trend toward a higher amount, potentially three-fourths of sales by the end of 2026. This will allow the market to view the stock along the same lines as Nvidia, making it a great alternative investment in the AI arms race.
I think Broadcom's stock will be a strong pick for 2026, although it may not deliver near-50% gains as it did in 2025. However, I believe it's slated to beat the market, making it a great stock to buy 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 $450,525!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,133,107!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 937% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 195% 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.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of January 23, 2026.
Keithen Drury has positions in Broadcom and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.