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Bank of America boosts Broadcom price target on growing list of hyperscaler customers

Bank of America is responding to Broadcom’s earnings beat and rosy guidance by raising its price target and estimates on the stock.

Analysts led by Vivek Arya lifted their earnings per share forecasts for the current year and the next two while boosting their price target to $260 from $250, which implies upside of about 35% for the shares.

“AVGO’s outperformance comes as a refreshing change after more contentious EPS calls from peers,” Arya & Co wrote. “We see a rising tide and expect ASICs [customized advanced chips] to command a 10-15% share in a $400-$500 billion long-term addressable opportunity.”

The chip designer is one of BofA’s top five picks in semis, along with Nvidia, Lam Research, Analog Devices, and Marvell Technology (which, like Broadcom, sells a lot of customized advanced chips, and got slammed this week after posting lukewarm earnings).

Broadcom’s ability to gain traction with new, large customers is bolstering the team’s confidence in the company.

“On top of existing three custom silicon customers (shipping today) and two potential customers currently in discussion (on track to tape out their XPUs this year), AVGO announced it is engaged with two additional customers, bringing total engagements to seven,” they added. “Every customer is a hyperscaler with a large enough internal installed base to potentially deploy 1 million plus XPU clusters for developing its own frontier model.”

Most analysts, for the record, feel optimistic about Broadcom as well, with the average price target sitting at $253. Per Bloomberg, 90% of the sell side that cover the name rate it a buy, while 10% deem it a hold.

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Oil tumbles below $80 to 3-month low on US-Iran deal

Oil prices slid to their lowest levels in more than three months today after a preliminary ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran raised expectations that more crude could return to global markets and key shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz could reopen.

Brent crude fell below $78 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate dropped to $73.31, extending losses as traders priced in lower geopolitical risk premiums tied to Middle East supply disruptions.

The preliminary pact announced by President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders establishes a 60-day ceasefire to end the active hostilities that have choked the Middle East since late February. A formal memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be officially signed in Switzerland this Friday, according to Bloomberg report.

Trump said on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz would be opened when the agreement is signed in Switzerland on Friday, writing on Truth Social, “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!

US Energy Department data, meanwhile, showed that Americas strategic oil stockpiles sank last week to their lowest level since 1983, indicating sustained demand to rebuild them even if the Mideast conflict ends.

Stocks that moved lower:

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Eos Energy surges on commercial launch of second battery production line

Eos Energy Enterprises is surging in early trading after announcing the official start of commercial production at its second automated battery manufacturing line.

In a statement, the company said this milestone positions it to scale production of its proprietary zinc-based long-duration energy storage systems to meet rising commercial demand.

Management touted the enhanced efficiency of this facility, with design upgrades slashing raw material travel by 86% and shortening the physical production line length by 40% compared to Line 1.

“Battery Line 2 demonstrates our ability to continuously improve as we scale,” said John Mahaz, Chief Operating Officer of Eos. “It validates that our manufacturing system can be replicated and scaled with discipline.”

The battery energy storage company confirmed that while subassemblies will continue coming online through the early third quarter, full production capacity is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026. The ultimate goal is to hit an aggregate 4 gigawatt-hours of annual manufacturing capacity by the end of 2026. Management also highlighted that Battery Line 1 already surpassed its full-year 2025 output within the first 164 days of 2026.

Today’s announcement builds on recent operational momentum for Eos, which posted better-than-expected Q1 sales and announced a joint venture with Cerberus Capital Management in May. However, shares are still down 37% year to date.

For the full year, Eos still expects to achieve revenues between $300 million and $400 million, in line with its previously provided guidance.

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Qualcomm reportedly in talks to acquire AI chip design company Tenstorrent

Qualcomm is in talks to acquire AI chip design firm Tenstorrent for $8 billion to $10 billion, according to The Information.

This transaction, if completed, would be another concrete signal of the San Diego-based chip company’s attempt to carve out a niche in the upstream AI space (data centers), rather than focusing on end-user devices.

Qualcomm’s key business of handset chips has fallen on hard times, particularly in China, due to the memory chip shortage.

Less than eight weeks ago, the chip company was the lowlight in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, down about 20% year to date.

Shares proceeded to surge over 60%, buoyed by optimism that the rising AI tide will lift all boats. With the release of Q2 earnings, CEO Cristiano Amon said that initial shipments of AI chips to a “leading hyperscaler” were on track for later this year, and to expect more on the company’s AI growth plans at its investor day on June 24 (next week). Last month, Bloomberg reported that Qualcomm is poised to sell “millions” of AI chips to TikTok parent ByteDance.

Established AI chip giants and hyperscalers alike have reached agreements with or gobbled up burgeoning AI chip companies as the boom rolls on. In December, Nvidia announced a major licensing deal with AI inference specialist Groq, while Meta bought AI chip startup Rivos in September.

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