Broadcom’s (AVGO) chief legal officer sold nearly $20 million worth of stock this month, just as the chipmaker’s shares got a short-term boost from a major Apple deal.
Mark Brazeal sold 50,000 shares across two transactions on July 8 and July 10, at prices ranging from $379.06 to $401.47 per share, totalling approximately $19.5 million. After the sales, Brazeal directly held 194,989 shares, the majority of which are restricted stock units (RSUs). If all 123,750 of those RSUs were fully vested, they would be worth around $46.3 million based on Thursday’s closing price of $374.45.
The timing was notable. AVGO had dipped below $360 at the start of July, hitting a monthly low. Then on July 8, Apple announced a multiyear $30 billion expansion of its partnership with Broadcom to develop custom silicon chips — its largest deal under its American Manufacturing Program. The stock rebounded sharply. Brazeal sold into that strength.
The Apple deal will help fund expansion of Broadcom’s Colorado plant and is expected to produce more than 15 billion U.S.-made chips.
Despite the Apple news, AVGO has struggled to hold gains. The stock has now fallen more than 20% from its recent all-time high and is trading at roughly the same level as November 2025 — even as the company continues to post strong earnings.
That stagnation prompted Erste Group to downgrade AVGO from Buy to Hold last week. The firm’s reasoning was straightforward: at around 65 times earnings, the stock’s valuation already reflects a lot of the good news. For comparison, Nvidia trades at roughly 32 times earnings.
Erste Group acknowledged Broadcom’s margins are expected to stay high, but argued there is limited room for further price gains at current levels. When a stock is priced for perfection, strong results can struggle to move it higher.
There is also growing investor concern about competition from Taiwan’s MediaTek, which could challenge Broadcom’s position with key hyperscaler customers.
Not everyone is pulling back. Morgan Stanley maintained its bullish stance, describing Broadcom as a “core AI winner.” The bank downplayed MediaTek competition fears, saying it expects Broadcom to remain the dominant supplier for customers including Alphabet’s Google.
Morgan Stanley attributed recent weakness partly to investors rotating into what it called “growthier” AI semiconductor names, rather than any fundamental deterioration in Broadcom’s business.
Broadcom’s AI revenue is growing faster than its overall revenue. It has locked in major partnerships with Apple, Alphabet, and Amazon, giving it a strong position in the custom silicon market that Nvidia does not compete in directly.
Broadcom carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating on Wall Street, with an average price target of $493.24 — well above current levels.
Erste Group’s downgrade remains the most recent analyst action on the stock as of July 17.
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