The AI gold rush has not been equally kind to all. In fact, chip stock Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) has been in fundamental danger of being left behind by competitors like Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and AMD (NASDAQ:AMD). However, there are signs Qualcomm is making a play for the AI market, and that play gave Qualcomm a fractional boost in Friday afternoon’s trading.
Qualcomm took to Hawaii to present its annual Snapdragon Summit event and show off some new chips in the process that are geared toward the AI gold rush. Qualcomm showed off two chips in particular: the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which will help give smartphones better access to large language models of the sort that frame artificial intelligence, and the Snapdragon X Elite.
The X Elite is geared toward the PC market and will “…lead Windows PCs into the modern AI era.” Of course, anything sufficiently strong to tackle AI will also be able to take on the more standard measures of PC and smartphone operations, like gaming and camera functions.
Qualcomm wasn’t just showing off chips at the Snapdragon Summit. It also brought out its S7 and S7 Pro Gen 1 sound platforms as well, poised to help drive audio experiences—and yes, even AI—with higher-end capabilities.
Reports note that the S7 and S7 Pro offer up to five times the power of Qualcomm’s last-generation material. Both platforms will also be able to work with a range of audio peripherals, including just about everything from the best earbuds to high-end desktop speakers, giving them maximum versatility and making them extremely attractive to developers in the process.
Is Qualcomm Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on QCOM stock based on 13 Buys, four Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average QCOM price target of $134.51 per share implies 22.74% upside potential.
