Broadcom has received a rare downgrade. Anthropic deal could be a problem

Seaport Research downgraded the shares of data center and cloud services chip maker Broadcom on Wednesday, April 8. This is a rare decision in the case of these securities, which most analysts recommend buying. Goldberg cited risks associated with the company's partnership with Google and AI startup Anthropic, as well as the overall health of the AI chip market.

Seaport analyst Jay Goldberg downgraded Broadcom's securities from "buy" to "neutral" without specifying a target price, MarketWatch reported. He noted that the company remains a "leading competitor" to Nvidia in the AI computing segment, but is "increasingly facing the limits of the industry," Barron's reported.

The analyst is concerned about the risk of Broadcom getting involved in raising funding for AI data centers under construction. Goldberg pointed to language from Broadcom's recent agreement with Anthropic that talks about negotiating with "operational and financial partners" as part of the deployment of AI capacity, writes Barron's. According to Goldberg, this confirms Broadcom's involvement in funding Anthropic's data center.

"The extent to which leading chip makers are being forced to provide financing and/or guarantees to their customers indicates that there is tension in the industry," Seaport MarketWatch quoted a Seaport analyst as saying.

Broadcom and Anthropic did not respond to MarketWatch's inquiries.

Broadcom announced the expansion of its AI alliance with Google and startup Anthropic on April 6. After that, its shares jumped by 6% in trading on April 7, and in trading on April 8 they added about 5% more amid a general market upswing after the news about the truce between the US and Iran.

"Broadcom is holding up well, but we believe this growth is fully factored into the consensus," Goldberg noted on the matter.

Broadcom stock is up only 1.3% since the start of 2026, but it has gained 89% over the past 12 months.

Goldberg with his skepticism about Broadcom remains in a distinct minority. Only three analysts, including him, have given the company a Neutral rating, meaning a Hold recommendation. The other 50 analysts tracking the stock are recommending a buy (Buy and Overweight ratings), MarketWatch noted.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor