Broadcom stock rallies more than 6% on aggressive plan to return shareholder cash, earnings beat

“Enterprise is actually waking up big time and they are asking for products in a very, very urgent manner,” said Hock Tan, Broadcom president and chief executive, on the call with analysts. “And, so we’re seeing more — a lot more — shipments to OEMs who support those enterprises.”

Broadcom said its board authorized a new $10 billion share-buyback program that is effective until the end of 2022, and hiked the company’s quarterly dividend 14% to $4.10 a share. The dividend is payable Dec. 31 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 22.

Hock assured analysts on the call that Broadcom intends to make good on the buyback plan in the next year, given the company has not made an acquisition lately and it has generated a “ton of cash” that it continues to accumulate. The company reported cash and cash equivalents of $12.16 billion at the end of the fiscal year, compared with $7.62 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year.

“It’s just a very logical conclusion for us to not just sit on the cash,” Hock said.

The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $1.91 billion, or $4.45 a share, compared with $1.25 billion, or $2.93 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings, which exclude stock-based compensation and other items, were $7.81 a share, compared with $6.35 a share in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose to $7.41 billion from $6.47 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected earnings of $7.74 a share on revenue of $7.36 billion, based on Broadcom’s forecast revenue of about $7.35 billion.

The company reported a 76% gain in chip sales to $5.63 billion from the year-ago period, and a 24% rise in infrastructure software sales to $1.77 billion. Analysts had forecast chip sales of $5.6 billion and infrastructure software sales of $1.73 billion.

Broadcom forecast revenue of about $7.6 billion for the fiscal first quarter, while analysts had estimated revenue of $7.24 billion.

Over the past 12 months, shares of Broadcom have gained 40%. In comparison, the S&P 500 index  SPX, -0.72% has advanced 27%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index  COMP, -1.71%  has risen 26%, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index  SOX, -2.14% has grown 42% over that time.

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