Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) and ING just made their relationship official—well, more official. The two announced Monday they're deepening their strategic partnership to modernize ING's private cloud infrastructure, which is banker-speak for "we need our tech to work everywhere, all the time, without regulators getting mad at us."
Here's the deal: ING is adopting VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 as the backbone of its multi-region private cloud strategy. For a multinational bank juggling stringent regulatory requirements across dozens of countries, this isn't just a nice-to-have. It's the foundation for delivering resilient, secure, and scalable digital banking services globally. Think of it as building a fortress that can pack up and move to another country if needed, all while keeping customer data locked down tight.
Why Private Cloud Matters for Banks
Banks like ING operate in a world where data sovereignty isn't optional. Different countries have different rules about where customer data can live and who can touch it. A cloud-native environment that ensures security, compliance, and workload mobility across regions is basically table stakes for staying in business.
The deployment of VCF 9 builds on ING's existing VMware virtualized infrastructure, letting the bank operate a more unified and modern private cloud architecture. Translation: they're not ripping everything out and starting over. They're upgrading what they've got to meet tomorrow's challenges today.
What Broadcom's CEO Says
Hock Tan, Broadcom's president and CEO, framed the expanded partnership as validation of VCF 9's relevance for financial institutions wrestling with modernization and regulation. "Our expanded partnership with ING underscores VCF 9's transformative power for financial institutions," he said.
The Bigger Broadcom Story
While ING's cloud overhaul makes headlines, Broadcom (AVGO) stock has been on a tear for entirely different reasons. Shares are up 67% year-to-date, powered by surging demand for AI-focused semiconductors and steady expansion from the VMware acquisition.
Bank of America Securities analyst Vivek Arya recently pointed to Google's increasing reliance on its in-house Tensor Processing Units as a significant catalyst for Broadcom's custom silicon business. Arya expects Broadcom's TPU revenue to accelerate as Google trains more models like Gemini on TPUs and expands access to external customers. Unit prices and shipments could spike sharply through 2026, he suggests.
Of course, there are risks. Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) isn't sitting still, and its upcoming architectures could eat into Broadcom's gains. Google's go-to-market strategy could also shift. But Arya still sees Broadcom gaining market share in the AI accelerator market and driving stronger earnings as AI compute demand scales.
On Tuesday morning, Broadcom shares were up 0.79% at $389.12 during premarket trading, inching closer to the stock's 52-week high of $403.00.