The past few years have been a wild ride for Nvidia (NVDA1.55%) investors. The company's graphics processing units (GPUs) played a crucial role in recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and have become the gold standard for AI training and inference.

The resulting unprecedented demand for its chips sparked a surge in the company's sales and profits, sending its stock price to new heights. It currently reigns as the world's most valuable company by market cap, valued at $4.3 trillion (as of this writing), and most experts believe AI adoption will continue to climb over the long term.

In recent months, however, the buzz has begun to fade. Shareholders are looking for confirmation that the AI investment cycle will yield tangible returns. Add to that the talk of an AI bubble, and it's easy to see why investors are edgy.

Broadcom (AVGO10.81%) just provided the clearest evidence yet that demand for AI remains robust.

Blockbuster results

Broadcom announced the results of its 2025 fiscal fourth quarter (ended Nov. 2), and the results exceeded expectations by a wide margin. Record revenue of $18.01 billion climbed 28% year over year, fueling adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.95, which jumped 37%.

For context, analysts' consensus estimates called for revenue of $17.46 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.87, so Broadcom easily surpassed expectations.

Continuing demand for AI solutions fueled the company's impressive results, as AI-based revenue surged 74% year over year, marking the 11th consecutive quarter of AI-centric growth. Free cash flow was also robust, clocking in at $7.47 billion, or 41% of revenue.

Broadcom gave investors other reasons to be of good cheer. CEO Hock Tan revealed that Anthropic was the mystery customer behind the $10 billion backlog increase in Q3. He also noted that the AI start-up had placed an additional $11 billion chip order, which is due to be filled by late next year.

Despite filling a barrage of orders to generate its record revenue, Broadcom's backlog still stands at $73 billion. Tan also noted that the company added a fifth customer for its custom AI chips, with a $1 billion order for delivery in late 2026.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2025/12/12/broadcom-ceo-hock-tan-just-delivered-incredible-ne/