Broadcom’s shares fell on Friday, along with those of other chipmakers, after the company lowered revenue guidance for the rest of the year due to trade tensions and a “broad-based” slowdown in general.
Chipmakers, part of the semiconductor industry, make the integrated circuits that power a wide array of devices including phones, tablets and computers.
The Trump administration issued an executive order in May empowering the government to ban the technology and services of “foreign adversaries” deemed to pose “unacceptable risks” to national security. It didn’t name specific countries or companies but it follows months of U.S. pressure on Chinese telecom company Huawei, the world’s biggest supplier of network gear, which has been deemed a danger in U.S. national security circles for the better part of a decade. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has been escalating tariffs on Chinese imports.
After the market closed on Thursday, Broadcom reduced its 2019 revenue forecast by $2 billion, saying customers are trimming orders because of the trade tensions, including U.S. curbs on sales to Huawei. Its shares fell nearly 7 percent in morning trading.
“We currently see a broad-based slowdown in the demand environment, which we believe is driven by continued geopolitical uncertainties, as well as the effects of export restrictions on one of our largest customers,” said Broadcom CEO Hock Tan in a statement.
Broadcom reports earnings ahead of most chipmakers that report earnings in July. Raymond James analyst Chris Caso said the weak earnings could be a preview of other chipmakers’ earnings reports, but he said most other chipmakers lowered expectations last quarter and Broadcom did not. “We do think Broadcom’s commentary includes some degree of catch up,” he said.
Chipmakers shares fell slightly across the board in morning trading. Micron shares dropped nearly 2 percent to $32.75. Skyworks Solutions shares fell 3 percent to $71.10. Intel shares fell more than 1 percent to $46. KLA-Tencor Corp. fell 1 percent to $109.69. Teradyne Inc. shares fell almost 3 percent to $43.93. Advanced Micro Devices fell 3 percent to $30.34. And Qualcomm shares fell nearly 2 percent to $68.67.