The report sent Broadcom shares up almost 4% in late trading. CEO Hock Tan said in prepared remarks that, “Broadcom’s record first quarter results were driven by strong enterprise demand, and continued investments in next generation technology by hyperscale and service providers.” Added Tan, “Our second quarter outlook projects year-over-year growth to accelerate.” Said CFO Kirsten Spears, “We generated $3.4 billion in free cash flow and are expecting free cash flow to remain strong in the second quarter.” Added Spears, “Consistent with our commitment to return excess cash to shareholders, we returned $4.5 billion to shareholders in the quarter including $1.8 billion of cash dividends and $2.7 billion of share repurchases.” Revenue in the three months ended in January rose 16%, year over year, to $7.71 billion, yielding a net profit of $8.39 a share. Analysts had been modeling $7.61 billion and $8.13 per share. The company’s semiconductor products made up 76% of revenue, or $5.87 billion, and rose by 20% from the prior-year period. Software sales rose by 5%. Broadcom said it bought back 5 million of its shares in the quarter, at a cost of $3.099 billion. For the current quarter, the company sees revenue of “approximately $7.9 billion versus consensus for $7.42 billion.
