Wall Street has dealt with difficult conditions in the stock market all year, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -0.64%) has suffered bigger declines in 2022's bear market than most of its index counterparts. Volatility continued on Friday, as what had initially appeared likely to be another good day for stock investors reversed lower on concerns about inflationary pressures.
Even with the volatility, though, some tech stocks listed on the Nasdaq showed signs of life Friday morning. Chip giant Broadcom (AVGO 2.99%) reported encouraging financial results, but the gains for electronic document manager DocuSign (DOCU 0.10%) were even more substantial. Below, you'll learn more about the trends in both businesses and why shareholders are more excited about their prospects after the latest reports.
Broadcom sees semiconductor strength
Shares of Broadcom climbed about 3% shortly before the beginning of regular-session trading on Friday morning. The semiconductor company saw strong results in its fiscal fourth-quarter financial report, for the period ending Oct. 30, bucking less-encouraging trends elsewhere in the chip industry.
Broadcom's numbers stood up very well. Revenue of $8.93 billion was up 21% year over year, and adjusted net income climbed at an even steeper rate of 30% to $4.54 billion. That translated into adjusted earnings of $10.45 per share for the quarter, and free cash flow was also impressive at $4.46 billion. Most of Broadcom's strength came from its semiconductor solutions business, although its infrastructure software segment also enjoyed a slight gain in sales.
Moreover, Broadcom expects to remain strong. The company cited strength in demand for products that its customers can use to adopt next-generation technologies, and it continued to spend on research and development to stay on the cutting edge of technological innovation. Indeed, with so much profit and free cash flow, Broadcom resumed its $13 billion stock repurchase program and boosted its dividend by 12% to $4.60 per share each quarter.
Some investors weren't pleased to see Broadcom choose not to offer full-year fiscal 2023 guidance, but first-quarter projections were better than most had expected. That was enough to send the stock higher, and unless orders start to slow, Broadcom seems to be handling the macroeconomic environment well.
Good signs for DocuSign
DocuSign stock did even better, rising 9% just before the opening bell on Friday morning. The producer of electronic-signature and document-management software grew in the fiscal third quarter, which ended Oct. 31, and investors were pleased to see progress in efforts to find a long-term path to sustained success.
Revenue for the third quarter rose 18% year over year to $645.5 million, with subscription-based revenue accounting for all but about 3% of its total sales. Billings increased to $659 million, up 17% from year-ago levels, and margin levels improved from where they were 12 months ago. On the bottom line, DocuSign's adjusted earnings of $0.57 per share eased lower from the $0.58 it posted in the year-earlier period, but that was better than many investors had expected.
DocuSign's outlook for the rest of the year also seemed encouraging. The software specialist projected full-year revenue of just under $2.5 billion, with fourth-quarter margin figures to be at levels above where they were earlier in 2022.
Shareholders have had to deal with massive volatility in the stock over the past year, with losses of more than 70%. Increasingly, investors are hopeful that the downturn will prove to have been overdone and that consistent business performance will boost confidence in DocuSign in 2023 and beyond.
