Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) delivered a solid earnings beat on Thursday, but the market decided to punish the stock anyway. That's the semiconductor industry for you these days.

The chip giant posted fourth-quarter revenue of $18.02 billion, handily beating analyst expectations of $17.49 billion. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.95 per share, ahead of the $1.86 consensus estimate. By most measures, this was a strong quarter.

The real story is in artificial intelligence. CEO Hock Tan made it clear that momentum is building: "We see the momentum continuing in Q1 and expect AI semiconductor revenue to double year-over-year to $8.2 billion, driven by custom AI accelerators and Ethernet AI switches." That's the kind of growth trajectory that usually gets investors excited.

Broadcom also sweetened the deal for shareholders by announcing a 10% dividend increase. The quarterly cash payout will rise to 65 cents per share, payable on December 31 to shareholders of record as of December 22.

Looking ahead, the company issued first-quarter revenue guidance of approximately $19.1 billion, well above the Street's $18.27 billion estimate. Management expects adjusted EBITDA to hit 67% of projected revenue, which suggests healthy margins alongside that top-line growth.

So why did the stock crater? Broadcom shares fell 10.9% on Friday to trade at $362.18. Sometimes strong results just aren't strong enough when expectations run sky-high, or perhaps investors were hoping for even more aggressive AI revenue projections.

Analyst Price Target Upgrades

Whatever the market thinks, Wall Street analysts are staying bullish. At least ten firms raised their price targets following the earnings report, with several pushing their targets near or above $500:

Keybanc analyst John Vinh kept an Overweight rating and bumped his target from $460 to $500. B of A Securities analyst Vivek Arya matched that move, maintaining a Buy rating while raising his target from $460 to $500.

Rosenblatt analyst Kevin Cassidy stayed at Buy and lifted his target from $440 to $450. Benchmark analyst Cody Acree remained at Buy with a more aggressive increase from $385 to $485.

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon maintained an Outperform rating and raised the target from $400 to $475. Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh kept his Outperform rating while increasing his target from $435 to $450.

Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer stayed Outperform and raised his target from $435 to $450. Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar maintained Overweight and boosted the target from $375 to $430.

Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore kept an Overweight rating and nudged his target from $443 to $462. Finally, TD Cowen analyst Joshua Buchalter maintained a Buy rating and raised his target from $405 to $450.

The message from the analyst community is clear: Friday's selloff might be a buying opportunity rather than a red flag. With AI revenue expected to double and guidance beating expectations, the long-term story for Broadcom remains compelling.