New York, Feb 19, 2026, 11:13 EST — Regular session
- Broadcom shares are up roughly 1%. Chip peers and the broader market, on the other hand, are slipping.
- Company has launched its BroadPeak radio chip, aiming it squarely at 5G Advanced and 6G base station markets.
- Chatter around VMware customer migrations isn’t fading as the March 4 results date approaches.
Shares of Broadcom (AVGO) climbed 1.0% to $336.93 late Thursday morning, riding momentum after the company introduced its BroadPeak radio chip, designed for next-gen 5G Advanced and 6G base stations. The stock has been moving between $329.89 and $338.15 today, outperforming the iShares Semiconductor ETF, which slipped 0.9%. QQQ and SPY ETFs were each off roughly 0.2%.
Timing is key here, as carriers and equipment suppliers are already charting out upgrades that reach past current 5G deployments. As networks shift into higher-frequency bands, power demands and radio complexity keep ticking up. In this sector, where every capacity plan has operating costs lurking beneath, chips that trim even a few watts can make a real difference.
Broadcom’s latest product move highlights something for investors: its semiconductor wagers don’t all ride the same data-center wave. Wireless infrastructure is a different animal—spending there jumps around, often hinging on things like spectrum auctions, operator budgets, or standards development, not just cloud capex.
Broadcom introduced BroadPeak, describing it as a radio digital front-end (DFE) system-on-a-chip that integrates signal-processing and data-converter blocks into a single device. The SoC is designed for massive MIMO radios and remote radio heads, where multiple antennas boost capacity. Built on a 5-nanometer CMOS process, the chip covers frequencies from 400 MHz to 8.5 GHz, handling bands for 5G Advanced as well as early 6G development. Broadcom claims BroadPeak can reduce power consumption by up to 40% compared to current offerings, and says samples are already in the hands of early-access customers. “The infrastructure behind it must evolve,” said Broadcom executive Vijay Janapaty. Altera, a partner, noted interoperability testing with its Agilex 7 FPGAs—chips that can be reprogrammed after manufacturing. GlobeNewswire
It’s a long game. Slapping on a 6G label doesn’t put cash in the door right away, and if carriers pull back on spending—or just push upgrades out—revenues can get delayed, especially when the economy tightens.
Still, Broadcom’s VMware unit is keeping investors on edge. A CloudBolt survey highlighted by CIO.com found that 86% of big North American firms are scaling back their VMware usage, and 59% have seen prices jump more than 25% after Broadcom took over. Scott Bickley at Info-Tech Research Group thinks hanging onto the highest-value customers might be enough for Broadcom to reach its goals. “There is no such thing as a frictionless migration,” said Matt Kimball, analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. CIO
Over the next few sessions, traders will be sorting out if Thursday’s product reveal is simply noise—or if Broadcom is signaling it can push even further into networking silicon. Software pricing and contract renewals remain under the microscope.
Investors are eyeing Broadcom’s quarterly numbers on March 4, scanning for guidance signals and new details on demand trends in semiconductors and infrastructure software.
