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Introduction

Qualcomm (QCOM) was the best performing stock yesterday (Monday) of the 125 stocks, ETFs and long-term warrants I track on a daily basis (see here) in my 21 model portfolios, popping 11.1%. Here's why.

Key Drivers Behind QCOM’s Rally

1. unveiled its AI200 and AI250 chips which provide high memory bandwidth, rack-scale performance, and low total cost of ownership, making them competitive with Nvidia’s and AMD’s offerings. The AI200 is set to be released in 2026, while the AI250 will be available in 2027 and will unveil another AI accelerator in 2028. 
2. attracted institutional interest as the move marked an aggressive expansion beyond smartphones into enterprise AI infrastructure which has an addressable market worth an estimated $500B, and into a positions to challenge incumbents in one of the most lucrative tech verticals.
3. announced early commercial traction and global ambition signing a deal with Saudi Arabia's Humain, an AI company backed by the country's sovereign wealth fund, as its first customer for the new series of chips starting in 2026 deploying 200 megawatts of AI infrastructure using Qualcomm’s chips. Investors are betting on multi-year upside if the company can scale production and secure more enterprise clients.

Media Commentary

Bank of America analyst, Tal Liani wrote in a note to clients that "This announcement is a needed diversification away from the low growth smartphone market, which accounts for roughly 75% of Qualcomm revenues, and is addressing a market that we expect to grow to ~$114B by 2030, with key customers looking for vendor diversity outside of the likes of Nvidia...On the other hand, the 2026 opportunity is limited with a single deal and technical execution needs to be demonstrated by the company.”

Benzinga puts forth that " The AI chip war isn't just about silicon—it's about software and developer lock-in. Nvidia's CUDA platform gives it near-total dominance, and unless Qualcomm can create a sticky ecosystem around its AI chips, every new deal risks being a one-off headline rather than a repeatable business. Qualcomm's Humain deal is a headline win but a small step in a much larger race. To truly compete with Nvidia, it must turn hardware strength into ecosystem stickiness—and that's a test no Saudi contract can pass."

A New York Post article yesterday stated "Qualcomm is facing a steep uphill battle. Nvidia already dominates about 90% of the data center market and boasts a massive $4.6 trillion market cap."

Analyst Consensus Rating & Price Forecast

The 20 analysts that cover Qualcomm stock have a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target which forecasts a 2.42% increase in the stock price over the next year. Source

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