VMware expected to see slowing growth as Broadcom deal hangs in the wind
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VMware (NYSE:VMW) is slated to report fourth-quarter results on Thursday and with the company's potential acquisition by Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) being carefully reviewed by regulators, investment firm Monness, Crespi, Hardt is expecting a continuation in slowing growth.
Analyst Brian White, who has a buy rating on VMware (VMW), said he expects fourth-quarter revenue to come in at $3.547B, below the Wall Street estimate of $3.63B, up just 10% sequentially and 0.5% year-over-year. 
"On a [year-over-year] basis, we are modeling sales growth to remain steady at 0.5% in [fiscal fourth-quarter] compared to up 0.7% in [the third-quarter], but well below the 7% increase reported a year ago," White wrote.
White added that even though VMware's (VMW) stock largely escaped the tech bloodbath of 2022 due to its pending acquisition by Broadcom (AVGO), it's unlikely that the company's results will not emerge without a few negatives as the global economy weakens.
"During the recently reported December quarter earnings season in tech, the leading, public cloud vendors struck an ominous tone, reporting a marked deceleration in revenue growth," White added. 
Looking at fiscal 2024, White expects VMware (VMW) to report $3.23B in revenue and $1.44 per share in earnings. VMware (VMW) has not offered guidance due to the pending sale.
Late last month, it was reported that Broadcom (AVGO) is likely to receive a European Union antitrust warning concerning its planned $61B takeover of VMware (VMW) in the coming weeks.