ASX 200 Live Today - Thursday, 3rd September

Welcome to our live ASX coverage for Thursday, September 3. Expect a high volume of posts pre-market and more periodic updates throughout the day. We'll be wrapping the blog up around 2:00 pm AEST. Let us know how we can make it even better.

Broadcom targets 4x AI revenue by FY28, shares slip on Q4 guide

[8:50 am] The chipmaker beat on Q3 but laid out an AI roadmap that dwarfs the quarterly result, taking AI semiconductor revenue from $58bn in FY26 to $230bn in FY28. The stock is trading 1.6% lower after hours.

• Revenue up 86% to $29.6bn vs $29.36bn ests (1% beat)

• Adjusted EPS up 96% to $3.32 vs $3.24 ests (2% beat)

• AI semiconductor revenue up 221% to $16.7bn, with XPU shipments up 3.5x and making up 73% of Q3 AI revenue

• Non-GAAP operating income up 92% to $20.1bn vs $19.73bn ests (2% beat)

• Q4 revenue guidance of around $34.8bn came in slightly below ests, sending shares lower, with Q4 AI revenue guided to $21.7bn, up 236%

• FY27 AI revenue targeted at around $115bn and FY28 at around $230bn, with supply secured for both years and current demand already exceeding the 2027 outlook. Management is also targeting more than $30 EPS in FY28

Some interesting quotes from management:

• On demand: "AI demand is simply hot, and we're just getting started"

• On 2027 supply: "In 2027, we have secured the supply to double AI rev to about $115 bn"

• On the $350bn shipment target: management has a "high degree of confidence" it will ship $350bn of AI semis over the next two years, even if all 30 GW of demand is not deployed due to land, power and data centre constraints

Snowflake beats on revenue and earnings, lifts FY27 guidance

[8:49 am] The cloud-based AI data company reported its third consecutive quarter of product revenue growth acceleration, with management pointing to a step-up in AI revenue. Snowflake shares are up 22.2% after hours.

• Revenue up 35% to $1.55bn vs $1.48bn ests (5% beat)

• Product revenue up 37% to $1.49bn, with remaining performance obligations up 30% to $9.0bn

• Non-GAAP operating income of $237.0m vs $187m ests (27% beat), non-GAAP product gross margin of 75%

• Adjusted EPS of $0.62 vs $0.45 ests (38% beat)

• Free cash flow of $83.8m vs $104m ests (19% miss)

• FY27 product revenue guidance lifted to $6.07bn from $5.84bn, implying 36% growth, with non-GAAP operating margin raised to 14.5% from 13.5%

• Q3 product revenue guidance of $1.588–1.593bn and non-GAAP operating margin of 15.5%

• et revenue retention

  of 126%, with customers spending more than $1m up 27% to 828

Oil near US$90 as US-Iran strikes reignite over Hormuz

[8:45 am] A month-long lull in the Iran war has broken, with tanker attacks, a US naval blockade and fresh sanctions all bearing on the world's most important oil chokepoint

• Brent finished flattish at US$95.37 after a +/-2% move intraday

• Energy Secretary Chris Wright said more than 17m barrels of oil transited Hormuz on Monday, a wartime record, against roughly 20m bpd of crude and products before the 28 February attacks

• Kpler data tells a different story, with six ships crossing the strait on Tuesday, down from 19 the previous Friday and 138 in a typical 24-hour period pre-war. The US government has consistently reported higher volumes than independent ship trackers

• Shipping risk is rising, with two tankers halted after striking mines, a Saudi carrier attacked with two crew killed, and CENTCOM reporting 86 commercial vessels redirected, three disabled and two boarded as of 2 September

• The US struck two Iranian government tankers on Tuesday under a new "tanker for tanker" policy, the first retaliatory strikes on Iranian vessels rather than blockade enforcement

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has launched "Operation Economic Outcast", targeting countries and entities still trading with Iran, with the UAE telling Washington any effective campaign must capture all major Iranian trade partners

Good morning!

[8:32 am] ASX 200 futures are up 38 pts (+0.42%). Here's what happened overnight:

• Major US benchmarks snapped a three-day losing streak as the 10-year Treasury yield backed off a fresh post-2023 high, with Nvidia (+3.2%), Micron (+2.4%) and Meta (+2.4%) leading megacaps

  • S&P 500 (+0.46%), Equal-weight S&P 500 (+0.46%), Nasdaq (+0.45%), Dow (+0.56%), Russell 2000 (+1.13%)

• Brent settled flattish after rallying ~10% in the prior five sessions. Trump floated renaming it after himself, while the IRGC said two tankers struck mines and the US hit Iranian government tankers under a new "tanker for tanker" doctrine

• Snowflake lifted full-year product revenue guidance and jumped in extended trade, Dell drew a wave of target upgrades on its record AI server backlog, and Bloomberg reported Nvidia nearing a $12.9bn deal for Hugging Face