Broadcom reported fiscal third-quarter 2026 revenue of $29.6 billion, an increase of 86% year over year, driven by surging demand for its artificial intelligence semiconductors. Intel also delivered positive results, with second-quarter 2026 revenue climbing 25% to $16.1 billion as its turnaround effort showed continued progress.

Broadcom's AI Engine Runs Hot

AI semiconductors formed the core of Broadcom's quarter. That business generated $16.7 billion in revenue, a 221% jump year over year, and accounted for 56% of the company's total revenue—meaning more than half of every dollar booked came from AI hardware.

Profitability kept pace with the top line. Non-GAAP operating income reached $20.1 billion, up 92% year over year, while free cash flow came in at $13.7 billion, or 46% of revenue.

Management signaled the momentum should continue. Broadcom guided fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue to approximately $34.8 billion, which would represent 93% growth from prior year. The company also raised its full-year fiscal 2026 AI revenue forecast to $58 billion, with a longer-range outlook calling for AI revenue of approximately $115 billion in fiscal 2027 and approximately $230 billion in fiscal 2028. Guidance stretching two fiscal years ahead stands out in the semiconductor industry, where most companies outline expectations only one quarter at a time.

Who Is Buying the Chips

Broadcom's confidence rests on supply agreements with some of the biggest names in AI. Its customer list includes Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic.

Anthropic is expected to become the largest customer for Broadcom's custom AI accelerators, known as XPUs, by 2027. An XPU is a chip designed for a single customer's specific AI workloads, rather than a general-purpose processor sold off the shelf. Custom silicon built around a customer's own software tends to create long-standing relationships, which helps explain why Broadcom is comfortable publishing forecasts two fiscal years ahead.

Intel's Slower Comeback

Intel's quarter told a recovery story rather than a boom story. Revenue of $16.1 billion was up 25% from the prior year.

The brightest spot was the Data Center and AI segment, or DCAI, which grew 59% to $6.3 billion. Intel's non-GAAP gross margin—a measure of the share of each sales dollar remaining after production costs—improved to approximately 41.8%, and losses in its foundry business narrowed.

The results point to a positive effect from CEO Lip-Bu Tan's leadership. Still, Intel faces significant execution risk as it pushes its turnaround forward in a crowded, highly competitive market.

Two Chipmakers, Two Scoreboards

Broadcom's AI semiconductor revenue alone, at $16.7 billion, edged past Intel's entire quarterly revenue of $16.1 billion. Broadcom's AI segment grew 221%, while Intel's DCAI unit grew 59%. The side-by-side shows where growth is currently concentrated in the chip industry: at both companies, the segments closest to AI and data center demand outpaced overall revenue growth—221% versus 86% for Broadcom, and 59% versus 25% for Intel.

What It Means for Investors and the Chip Sector

Broadcom has turned AI demand into contracted, multi-year business with the industry's largest buyers. However, forecasts of approximately $230 billion in AI revenue by fiscal 2028 remain forecasts, not booked sales.

With more than half of revenue coming from AI chips sold to a relatively small group of hyperscalers and AI labs, any slowdown in their spending plans would show up quickly in the numbers. Anthropic's expected rise to the top of the XPU customer list ties part of Broadcom's future to how quickly AI labs continue to scale their compute budgets.

Key markers ahead include Broadcom's fiscal fourth-quarter results against its approximately $34.8 billion guidance and the standing of its raised $58 billion full-year AI revenue forecast, as well as whether Intel's margin gains and foundry improvements hold over the next few quarters.