Qualcomm (QCOM) stock rallied as much as 20% to a new 52-week high on Oct. 27 after the semiconductor company announced plans of launching two new artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
According to its press release, the “AI200” will be commercially available starting next year, while the even more powerful “AI250” will take another year to hit shelves.
Following today’s rally, Qualcomm stock is trading more than 55% higher than its April low.
The aforementioned announcement is meaningfully positive for QCOM stock since it signals the company’s strategic expansion into the highly lucrative and fast-growing AI data center market.
By launching the AI200 and AI250 chips, especially designed to compete with Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Qualcomm is positioning itself to capture a massive new revenue stream in AI inference.
This diversification, along with the chips’ promised energy efficiency and the long-term product roadmap, instills strong confidence in the firm’s future growth and market relevance in the age of AI.
A 1.87% dividend yield makes Qualcomm shares all the more attractive to own heading into 2026.
QCOM is worth owning on the recent $2.4 billion Alphawave acquisition as well that brought the company in-house expertise in advanced data center design, fast-tracking its enterprise ambitions.
Qualcomm’s team-up with NVDA on custom processors adds technical credibility to its products, while its commitment to growing presence in automobiles and IoT devices expands its addressable market as well.
Simply put, the Nasdaq-listed firm is evolving into a diversified semiconductor powerhouse, well-positioned to capitalize on enterprise demand as the world continues to spend on AI infrastructure.
Together, these tailwinds could see QCOM shares printing a new all-time high in 2026.
Qualcomm stock has already been a lucrative investment this year, but Wall Street firms believe it isn’t out of juice just yet.
According to Barchart, the consensus rating on QCOM shares remains at “Moderate Buy” with price targets going as high as $225, indicating potential upside of another 20% from here.
