New Chips Help Push Broadcom Shares Up

Shares of Irvine communications chip maker Broadcom Corp. rose as much as 18% Wednesday after the company introduced two new products and its chief executive gave an upbeat corporate review at a New York investment conference.

The stock ended the day with a 15% gain, up $6.40, to close at $48.36 a share on Nasdaq.

The company’s new chips transmit data quickly in office networks. That, and better investor sentiment as the U.S. economy shows signs of improvement, boosted the shares, said Lehman Brothers Inc. analyst Arnab Chanda.

Broadcom’s chips are smaller and use less power than those of rivals, the company said. Broadcom also makes chips for digital cable television set-top boxes.

At the Hardware Technology Conference sponsored by Merrill Lynch & Co., Broadcom Chief Executive Henry T. Nicholas III told the audience his company expects to finish its inventory correction by the second half of the year. He said the company also expects to resume growth by year’s end.

The stock posted an all-time high of $274.75 a share last August, then fell 92% to a 52-week low of $20.88 on April 4.