Broadcom’s underwhelming results are dragging the AI complex and the wider market lower

Micron and Sandiskare both down more than 6% on Thursday, as Broadcom's underwhelming results weigh on the entire AI complex.

But the two memory giants might be under more pressure than others for another reason, too. Reuters reported that Korean rival SK Hynix told investors this week that it received strong backing on its proposed US listing, potentially giving US investors an alternative way to play the memory chip crunch.

Citing a source familiar with the matter, the Reuters report outlined that the South Korean chipmaker received “tremendously positive” feedback from stockholders, thanks to growing AI demand and SK Hynix’s competitive position in the memory-chip market. Noting discussions with customers on future pricing of its advanced chips, the company reportedly also told investors that it expects a favorable pricing environment for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to continue into next year, and a strong demand for its new, power-efficient LPDDR memory from Nvidia that could further tighten memory supply from 2027.

Back in March, SK Hynix announced that it had filed an application to list ADRs with the SEC, the review of which remains underway, with aims to go stateside within 2026. Reuter’s cited source noted that the size and pricing of the listing still haven’t been decided, but local Korean media had reported that the company could raise up to $10 billion back in March, when SK Hynix had a market valuation of less than half of what it is today.

Micron is currently the only US-listed company out of the top three memory producers (Samsung being the other). SK Hynix remains ahead of Micron across the memory landscape, according to the latest available market share by revenue data from Counterpoint Research, including DRAM (SK Hynix 29% vs. Micron 22%), NAND (18% vs. 13%), and HRM (57% vs. 21%) chips.

ChargePoint, an electric vehicle infrastructure company, topped analysts’ expectations for first-quarter revenue, but its cash pile dropped by about one-third.

Here are the numbers: 

• Q1 revenue of $101.8 million (compared to analyst estimates of $95.6 million).

• A Q1 loss per share of $1.75, compared with a $2.49 loss a year earlier.

After-hours, shares whipsawed as traders digested a slightly more complicated story, with ChargePoint continuing to burn through cash quickly. ChargePoint’s cash and cash equivalents on the balance sheet totaled $95.8 million, while only a quarter ago it had held $141.5 million in cash. That’s a drop of 32%.

The industry overall is at a crossroads. With federal subsidy rollbacks, electric vehicle sales continue to continue to look relatively bleak in the United States. But with gas prices elevated because of the Iran war, Americans are looking more closely at EVs again and turning to more fuel-efficient options.

Results for other companies in the space, like Blink Charging Co., have been mixed: this earnings season it beat earnings-per-share estimates for Q1 but missed Wall Street revenue expectations. Meanwhile, another charging network, EVGo, beat on revenue and EPS, but investors’ reaction was mixed given the headwinds in the sector. 

Discount retailer Five Below delivered impressive Q1 earnings, beating out analyst estimates on Wednesday after the bell. But instead of getting a pat on the back, investors responded by sending the stock down as much as 9% in after-hours trading.

Here are the numbers:

• Q1 sales of $1.28 billion (compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion, per FactSet).

• Q1 adjusted earnings per share of $2.22 (estimate: $1.77).

The company raised its guidance for the full fiscal year and now projects full-year net sales between $5.40 billion and $5.48 billion (up from the $5.20 billion to $5.30 billion estimated last quarter), beating out analysts’ full-year estimates of $5.36 billion.

Similarly, the company expects Q2 revenue to fall between $1.18 billion and $1.20 billion, above Wall Street expectations of $1.14 billion.

The stock has risen over 80% in the past 12 months as consumers across income brackets search for affordable goods. The retailer has maintained its aggressive expansion campaign, opening 150 net new stores in fiscal year 2025. On Wednesday, Five Below said it still plans to open 150 further locations in fiscal year 2026.

Recently, the company has not only courted customers looking for cheaper everyday items, but also dopamine hits like its “squishy dumplings,” a Wall Street winner, according to analyst Spencer Hanus at Wolfe Research.

“Our continued focus on compelling newness at amazing value and great store execution are at the heart of our operating flywheel,” said Winnie Park, CEO of Five Below. “We successfully amplified social media trends and drove outsized traffic through coordinated merchandising and marketing efforts.”

CrowdStrike edged past analysts’ estimates for revenue and earnings in its fiscal first quarter.

For FY 2027 Q1, the cybersecurity platform posted:

• Revenues of $1.39 billion (estimate: $1.36 billion).

• Adjusted earnings per share of $1.10 (estimate: $1.07).

• Annual recurring revenue of $5.51 billion, beating analyst estimates of $5.50 billion.

• Subscription revenue of $1.32 billion, up 26% year on year.

The company also boosted its annual guidance for revenue and adjusted EPS, and it announced a 4-for-1 stock split.

Still, shares, which had surged some 60% over the past month, fell 8.2% after-hours.

Since Anthropic’s announcement of its forthcoming Mythos model, the cybersecurity industry has been bracing for an explosion in vulnerabilities that may be discovered using such advanced AI models.

In a press release, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said:

“In Q1, the worlds of cybersecurity and frontier AI collided: this was the Mythos moment. CrowdStrike is AI security infrastructure, critical to successful AI adoption.”