U.S. Futures Slip as Investors Weigh Middle East Geopolitical Risks
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Mar 05 2026
0mins
Should l Buy AVGO?
Futures are slipping this morning as investors weigh renewed Middle East geopolitical risk and the implications for energy prices, inflation and growth. The ongoing conflict involving the U.S., Israel and Iran continues to push oil prices higher, and traders are increasingly cautious about how elevated energy costs might feed into broader inflation and complicate the Federal Reserve's timeline for potential rate cuts.Energy markets continue to exert outsized influence on overall sentiment. Crude oil prices remain elevated on supply-risk fears. That dynamic is contributing to a divergence between cyclical, energy-related sectors and more sensitive growth stocks, which are under greater pressure in the current risk-off environment.Investor focus remains on near-term inflation data, labor market reports, and Fed speeches that could clarify the central bank's stance amid lingering geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties. Market positioning is cautious with volatility elevated, and traders are watching closely for any sign of de-escalation or fresh data that might shift risk sentiment.In pre-market trading, S&P 500 futures fell 0.39%, Nasdaq futures fell 0.48% and Dow futures fell 0.67%.Check out this morning's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.HIGHER -Trade Deskup 21% after The InformationOpenAI and the company held early talks regarding a partnership to help the AI tool sell adsUP AFTER EARNINGS -Veevaup 8%Cracker Barrelup 8%Burlington Storesup 6%Broadcomup 4%DOWN AFTER EARNINGS -Grocery Outletdown 25%StubHubdown 15%Cienadown 5%Victoria's Secretdown 5%BJ's Wholesaledown 4%American Eagledown 2%Krogerdown 1%
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Analyst Views on AVGO
Wall Street analysts forecast AVGO stock price to rise
30 Analyst Rating
29 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 313.490
Low
370.00
Averages
457.75
High
525.00
Current: 313.490
Low
370.00
Averages
457.75
High
525.00
About AVGO
Broadcom Inc. is a global technology firm that designs, develops, and supplies a range of semiconductors, enterprise software and security solutions. The Company operates through two segments: semiconductor solutions and infrastructure software. Its semiconductor solutions segment includes all of its product lines and intellectual property (IP) licensing. It provides a variety of radio frequency semiconductor devices, wireless connectivity solutions, custom touch controllers, and inductive charging solutions for mobile applications. Its infrastructure software segment includes its private and hybrid cloud, application development and delivery, software-defined edge, application networking and security, mainframe, distributed and cybersecurity solutions, and its FC SAN business. It provides a portfolio of software solutions that enable customers to plan, develop, automate, manage and secure applications across mainframe, distributed, mobile and cloud platforms.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
US Stocks Plummet as Oil Prices Surge
- Oil Price Surge: Crude oil prices soared over 13% as President Trump took a tougher stance on Iran, reaching a 3.5-week high, which not only heightened inflation fears but also pushed bond yields higher, with the 10-year T-note yield rising by 2 basis points to 4.34%.
- Unemployment Claims Drop: Weekly initial unemployment claims unexpectedly fell by 9,000 to 202,000, indicating a stronger labor market than the anticipated increase to 212,000, which could provide support for the stock market amid rising inflation concerns.
- Global Market Decline: Overseas stock markets are lower, with the Euro Stoxx 50 down 2.25%, China's Shanghai Composite down 0.74%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 sharply falling 2.38% from a two-week high, reflecting global economic uncertainty and investor caution.
- Airline Stocks Plummet: Airline stocks are sharply lower as crude oil prices surged over 10%, raising fuel costs; United Airlines and American Airlines Group both fell more than 6%, highlighting the direct impact of rising oil prices on airline profitability.
See More
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- Nasdaq Correction: The Nasdaq Composite entered correction territory on March 26, closing over 10% below its record high, with historical trends indicating that such corrections often present buying opportunities, suggesting potential for market rebound.
- Meta Platforms Potential: Meta's median target price is $855.50, implying a 50% upside from its current price of $572, with analysts believing that its investments in AI will drive advertising revenue growth, projecting a 22% annual earnings increase over the next three years.
- Broadcom Growth Outlook: Broadcom's median target price is $472.50, indicating a 52% upside from its current price of $310; while non-AI product revenue remained flat, AI networking revenue surged 60% in Q1, reflecting strong market demand.
- AI Accelerator Market: Broadcom's AI accelerators are expected to account for 20% of AI accelerator sales by 2030, up from 10% currently, indicating robust growth potential despite Nvidia's dominance, as Broadcom's XPUs offer cost-effective alternatives attracting major tech companies.
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- Nvidia's Market Advantage: With a massive existing installation base and its proprietary CUDA parallel computing platform, Nvidia is poised to achieve over $1 trillion in sales from Blackwell and Vera Rubin by 2027, highlighting its substantial potential in AI inference applications.
- Broadcom's ASIC Strategy: By partnering with six major AI companies to design custom accelerator chips, Broadcom anticipates its AI chip sales will surge significantly over $100 billion in fiscal year 2027, underscoring its critical position in the rapidly expanding AI market.
- Investment Return Comparison: While Nvidia's focus on AI data center chips offers greater growth potential, Broadcom's diversified revenue streams and consistent dividend growth (increased for 14 consecutive years) make it more appealing for risk-averse investors seeking wealth-building opportunities.
See More
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- Buying AI Stocks: Cathie Wood is strategically investing in AI stocks during market dips, recently selling 4,189 shares of Alphabet, 5,707 shares of Broadcom, and 120,936 shares of Nvidia in her Ark Innovation fund, showcasing her opportunistic approach amid volatility.
- Portfolio Adjustments: While reducing positions in several AI leaders, Wood retains AMD as one of her top ten holdings, indicating her continued confidence in the company's long-term potential, with AMD accounting for 4% of the fund's weight.
- New Investment Opportunities: During the market correction, Wood purchased 41,830 shares of CoreWeave, reflecting her belief in innovative opportunities within the AI sector, particularly in cloud capacity, which aligns with her forward-looking investment strategy.
- Investment Strategy Considerations: Wood's approach emphasizes long-term holding, advising investors to assess their risk tolerance when selecting AI stocks, especially in the current market environment, where seeking companies with stable earnings growth may be a more prudent choice.
See More
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- Investment Strategy Shift: Cathie Wood has opted to reduce her positions in AI stocks during recent declines, particularly in her flagship Ark Innovation fund, although AMD remains a key holding at 4%, indicating her sensitivity to market dynamics.
- Long-Term Holding Philosophy: Wood adheres to a long-term investment strategy focused on early-stage innovative companies, demonstrating confidence in future growth potential despite short-term volatility in AI stocks.
- New Investment Opportunities: On March 30, Wood increased her stake in CoreWeave by 41,830 shares, reflecting her belief in the importance of cloud capacity for AI workloads and her determination to seek new opportunities amid market corrections.
- Risk and Reward Considerations: For risk-tolerant investors, Wood's investment in CoreWeave offers high growth potential, while more conservative investors might find stability and earnings growth in the AI leaders she recently sold.
See More
Oracle Cuts Thousands of Jobs to Support AI Infrastructure Development
- Layoff Announcement: Oracle has begun notifying its 162,000 employees about plans to cut thousands of jobs to free up cash flow for AI data center infrastructure development, which is expected to significantly reduce operating costs and enhance financial flexibility.
- Stock Price Reaction: Following the layoff news, Oracle's shares rose 2.6% in early trading, despite being down approximately 25% year-to-date, indicating a cautiously optimistic market response to the company's future strategy.
- Capital Expenditure Pressure: Oracle plans to raise up to $50 billion in 2025 through a mix of debt and equity to meet cloud service demand from clients, particularly from companies like Nvidia and Meta, reflecting strong market demand for AI infrastructure.
- Analyst Perspective: Barclays analysts noted that the layoffs will help free up cash flow and viewed this move as unsurprising, projecting that Oracle could triple its revenue over the next few years, despite lower employee productivity compared to competitors.
See More
US Stocks Plummet as Oil Prices Surge
- Oil Price Surge: Crude oil prices soared over 13% as President Trump took a tougher stance on Iran, reaching a 3.5-week high, which not only heightened inflation fears but also pushed bond yields higher, with the 10-year T-note yield rising by 2 basis points to 4.34%.
- Unemployment Claims Drop: Weekly initial unemployment claims unexpectedly fell by 9,000 to 202,000, indicating a stronger labor market than the anticipated increase to 212,000, which could provide support for the stock market amid rising inflation concerns.
- Global Market Decline: Overseas stock markets are lower, with the Euro Stoxx 50 down 2.25%, China's Shanghai Composite down 0.74%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 sharply falling 2.38% from a two-week high, reflecting global economic uncertainty and investor caution.
- Airline Stocks Plummet: Airline stocks are sharply lower as crude oil prices surged over 10%, raising fuel costs; United Airlines and American Airlines Group both fell more than 6%, highlighting the direct impact of rising oil prices on airline profitability.
See More
Nasdaq Enters Correction, Meta and Broadcom Undervalued
- Nasdaq Correction: The Nasdaq Composite entered correction territory on March 26, closing over 10% below its record high, with historical trends indicating that such corrections often present buying opportunities, suggesting potential for market rebound.
- Meta Platforms Potential: Meta's median target price is $855.50, implying a 50% upside from its current price of $572, with analysts believing that its investments in AI will drive advertising revenue growth, projecting a 22% annual earnings increase over the next three years.
- Broadcom Growth Outlook: Broadcom's median target price is $472.50, indicating a 52% upside from its current price of $310; while non-AI product revenue remained flat, AI networking revenue surged 60% in Q1, reflecting strong market demand.
- AI Accelerator Market: Broadcom's AI accelerators are expected to account for 20% of AI accelerator sales by 2030, up from 10% currently, indicating robust growth potential despite Nvidia's dominance, as Broadcom's XPUs offer cost-effective alternatives attracting major tech companies.
See More
Investment and Growth of AI Chip Titans
- Surging Capital Expenditures: Total capital expenditures among top AI companies are projected to reach $700 billion in 2023, driving a chip supercycle that has significantly boosted Nvidia's growth and solidified its market leadership in AI GPU chips.
- Nvidia's Market Advantage: With a massive existing installation base and its proprietary CUDA parallel computing platform, Nvidia is poised to achieve over $1 trillion in sales from Blackwell and Vera Rubin by 2027, highlighting its substantial potential in AI inference applications.
- Broadcom's ASIC Strategy: By partnering with six major AI companies to design custom accelerator chips, Broadcom anticipates its AI chip sales will surge significantly over $100 billion in fiscal year 2027, underscoring its critical position in the rapidly expanding AI market.
- Investment Return Comparison: While Nvidia's focus on AI data center chips offers greater growth potential, Broadcom's diversified revenue streams and consistent dividend growth (increased for 14 consecutive years) make it more appealing for risk-averse investors seeking wealth-building opportunities.
See More
Cathie Wood's Latest Moves in AI Stocks
- Buying AI Stocks: Cathie Wood is strategically investing in AI stocks during market dips, recently selling 4,189 shares of Alphabet, 5,707 shares of Broadcom, and 120,936 shares of Nvidia in her Ark Innovation fund, showcasing her opportunistic approach amid volatility.
- Portfolio Adjustments: While reducing positions in several AI leaders, Wood retains AMD as one of her top ten holdings, indicating her continued confidence in the company's long-term potential, with AMD accounting for 4% of the fund's weight.
- New Investment Opportunities: During the market correction, Wood purchased 41,830 shares of CoreWeave, reflecting her belief in innovative opportunities within the AI sector, particularly in cloud capacity, which aligns with her forward-looking investment strategy.
- Investment Strategy Considerations: Wood's approach emphasizes long-term holding, advising investors to assess their risk tolerance when selecting AI stocks, especially in the current market environment, where seeking companies with stable earnings growth may be a more prudent choice.
See More
Analysis of Cathie Wood's AI Investment Strategy
- Investment Strategy Shift: Cathie Wood has opted to reduce her positions in AI stocks during recent declines, particularly in her flagship Ark Innovation fund, although AMD remains a key holding at 4%, indicating her sensitivity to market dynamics.
- Long-Term Holding Philosophy: Wood adheres to a long-term investment strategy focused on early-stage innovative companies, demonstrating confidence in future growth potential despite short-term volatility in AI stocks.
- New Investment Opportunities: On March 30, Wood increased her stake in CoreWeave by 41,830 shares, reflecting her belief in the importance of cloud capacity for AI workloads and her determination to seek new opportunities amid market corrections.
- Risk and Reward Considerations: For risk-tolerant investors, Wood's investment in CoreWeave offers high growth potential, while more conservative investors might find stability and earnings growth in the AI leaders she recently sold.
See More
Oracle Cuts Thousands of Jobs to Support AI Infrastructure Development
- Layoff Announcement: Oracle has begun notifying its 162,000 employees about plans to cut thousands of jobs to free up cash flow for AI data center infrastructure development, which is expected to significantly reduce operating costs and enhance financial flexibility.
- Stock Price Reaction: Following the layoff news, Oracle's shares rose 2.6% in early trading, despite being down approximately 25% year-to-date, indicating a cautiously optimistic market response to the company's future strategy.
- Capital Expenditure Pressure: Oracle plans to raise up to $50 billion in 2025 through a mix of debt and equity to meet cloud service demand from clients, particularly from companies like Nvidia and Meta, reflecting strong market demand for AI infrastructure.
- Analyst Perspective: Barclays analysts noted that the layoffs will help free up cash flow and viewed this move as unsurprising, projecting that Oracle could triple its revenue over the next few years, despite lower employee productivity compared to competitors.
See More
