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Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) has become one of the clearest alternatives to NVIDIA's merchant-GPU model as hyperscalers increasingly design custom AI accelerators. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) may benefit regardless.

TSM reported record August revenue of NT$514.81 billion, up 53.3% year over year, providing another data point that leading-edge semiconductor demand remains exceptionally strong.

Broadcom's opportunity comes from hyperscalers deciding that specialized workloads justify custom silicon. Meta, for example, worked with Broadcom on its Iris AI accelerator while using TSM for fabrication, according to Reuters.

Photo from AAOI

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) has a bull case tied to hyperscalers spending enough on AI infrastructure to justify chips tailored to specific models and workloads. Custom accelerators can offer superior performance per dollar for stable, enormous workloads, creating a market that can grow alongside rather than completely replace merchant GPUs.

The bear case is concentration. Custom programs are tied to a small number of hyperscalers, and delays or architecture changes at a handful of customers can materially alter revenue expectations. Rising foundry costs can also squeeze economics.

That relationship illustrates why Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) may be one of the more durable beneficiaries of the custom-chip trend. Nvidia losing some accelerator share to custom silicon does not necessarily hurt TSM if the alternative accelerator is also manufactured on its advanced processes.

TSM has the opposite exposure. Customer concentration is still relevant, but its manufacturing position allows it to participate across multiple competing architectures. Its risks remain enormous capital requirements, geopolitics and the possibility that customers eventually obtain credible manufacturing alternatives.

Hedge-fund positioning diverged modestly in Q2. TSM ownership rose to 249 hedge funds from 234, while Broadcom slipped to 170 funds from 173. Short sellers remain relatively restrained on both: TSM's short interest was about 0.6% of float and Broadcom's roughly 1.2% as of August 14.

Broadcom offers more direct exposure to custom silicon and AI networking, but TSM provides broader participation in the same trend without requiring investors to correctly identify which hyperscaler chip programs dominate.

Broadcom can still be a major custom-AI winner, but TSM's ability to manufacture chips for Broadcom, Nvidia, AMD and other designers gives it an unusually attractive position when the architecture war itself remains unresolved.

While we acknowledge the potential of AVGO and TSM as investments, we believe certain other AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

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