Broadcom has reported results for its fiscal third quarter to 5 August, saying results came in line with expectations, with Datacenter demand driving strong growth for over 50 percent of consolidated revenues. CFO Tom Krause noted the company returned USD 5.38 billion to shareholders and that it intends to return 50 percent of the previous year’s free cash flow in the form of cash dividends. With the rest of the free cash flow, the company will fund a combination of share buybacks and acquisitions. Broadcom paid an unchanged dividend of USD 1.75 on 29 June and will keep this dividend level for its next payout, on 28 September.
Broadcom also announced volume shipments for its BCM43684 Max WiFi 802.11ax SoC, saying the SoC is the first in the industry to be fully compliant with the 802.11ax specification and its upcoming 802.11ax certification. Designed for the residential Wi-Fi market, the Max Wi-Fi chips are being deployed by Netgear with its Nighthawk product line.
Revenues for Q3 went 13 percent higher from the year before to USD 5.063 billion while the gross margin improved to USD 2.619 billion or 51.7 percent of revenue from 2.149 billion or 48.2 percent of revenue, with operating expenses going to USD 1.280 billion from 1.501 billion year-on-year. The operating profit rose to USD 1.339 billion from 648 million and the net profit, including discontinued operations, jumped to USD 1.196 billion or USD 2.71 per diluted share, from 507 million and 1.14 per diluted share.
The company’s cash balance at the end of the quarter dipped to USD 4.136 billion from 8.187 billion in the second quarter. Free cash flow amounted to USD 2.127 billion, or 42 percent of revenue.
For the fourth quarter, The company is guiding for revenues of USD 5.397 billion (+/- USD 75 million), a gross margin of 52.3 percent (+/- 1%), and operating expenses of USD 1.259 million. Capex for the quarter is seen at USD 110 million.
