A new chip from chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) gave it a significant boost in Wednesday afternoon’s trading. The new Snapdragon X Plus, an eight-core processor, fueled a lot of interest in both Qualcomm and the larger artificial intelligence (AI) PC market, sending shares up nearly 2.5%.
The Snapdragon X Plus is Qualcomm’s attempt to further solidify its place in the PC market, which was formerly dominated by the likes of Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD). Qualcomm introduced the new chip at the IFA conference in Germany and looks to give PCs better battery life and a smoother Windows operating experience.
Better yet, the Snapdragon X Plus is also geared toward working with more budget-friendly builds. Reports note that the Snapdragon X Plus will work with PCs costing as little as $700, which, for a PC, is generally considered a lower-mid-level price range. The move to more desktop PC operations is part of a larger initiative to diversify the company’s offerings, noted CEO Cristiano Amon. This, along with Qualcomm’s growing automotive presence, only solidifies that commitment.
Qualcomm’s Automotive Presence
Qualcomm’s presence in the automotive market has been on something of a tear, noted a recent Automotive News report. Qualcomm’s revenue generated from automotive operations was up 87% in a year-to-year comparison, thanks largely to its expanded slate of offerings on this front.
The biggest reason for this was that Qualcomm has been working on a “wireless backbone” for decades now, and that backbone slots with surprising ease into a vehicle. That not only puts it ahead of many automotive competitors but also makes it easy to connect to both on-board and off-board systems, giving it a crucial versatility that many others do not possess.
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, seven Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 46.28% rally in its share price over the past year, the average QCOM price target of $220.71 per share implies 31.77% upside potential.
