Qualcomm stock skyrockets 19%, hits 52-week high after it announces chips to take on Nvidia and AMD

Qualcomm stock jumped 19% to hit a 52-week high of $204.12 on Monday after the company revealed powerful new AI accelerator chips designed to compete directly with Nvidia and AMD in the fast-growing data center market.

The surge pushed Qualcomm’s market cap to nearly $182 billion, marking its strongest single-day performance of 2025 and signaling a major strategic shift toward AI infrastructure — a sector projected to attract $6.7 trillion in global investment by 2030, according to McKinsey.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) introduced two new chips — the AI200, launching in 2026, and the AI250, coming in 2027.
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Both are designed for liquid-cooled, rack-scale systems that can host up to 72 chips acting as one powerful computer, similar to systems from Nvidia and AMD.

Unlike Qualcomm’s traditional focus on smartphones, these chips target AI inference — the process of running trained models used by services like ChatGPT and Claude. This positions Qualcomm as a new contender in the AI data center race, the most lucrative and competitive segment in tech today.The company’s AI200 and AI250 chips are built using the same Hexagon Neural Processing Units (NPUs) that power Qualcomm’s mobile processors.

According to Durga Malladi, Qualcomm’s General Manager for Data Center and Edge, the goal was to first prove performance in mobile and edge AI, and then scale to data center level computing.

This approach allows Qualcomm to leverage its energy-efficient chip design, a key selling point as power costs soar across global data centers.

Qualcomm claims its rack system consumes 160 kilowatts of power, roughly equal to Nvidia’s GPU systems, but with lower operating costs and better power efficiency.

Its AI cards support 768GB of memory, higher than current offerings from both Nvidia and AMD, allowing faster handling of large language models (LLMs) and multi-modal AI applications.

Malladi added that customers can mix and match components — buying Qualcomm’s AI chips, CPUs, or entire rack systems — depending on their infrastructure needs.

In May, Qualcomm announced a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Humain, which will deploy Qualcomm’s AI inferencing systems across new regional data centers.

Humain is expected to use up to 200 megawatts of power, making it one of the largest early adopters of Qualcomm’s new AI technology.

This partnership marks Qualcomm’s first major step into international AI infrastructure, expanding its footprint beyond the mobile chip market.

Nvidia still controls over 90% of the global AI GPU market, valued above $4.5 trillion, as its GPUs power AI giants like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.

However, demand for alternative suppliers is rising as supply constraints and high costs pressure cloud providers.

AMD has already struck deals with OpenAI, and now Qualcomm is entering the same battlefield — focusing on inference efficiency rather than model training.

With strong technical positioning, high investor confidence, and a bold product roadmap, Qualcomm’s 19% stock rally signals a potential turning point for the company — from smartphone dominance to AI infrastructure leadership.

Qualcomm Introduces AI200 and AI250 Chips for Data Centers

The company announced two new products — the AI200, launching in 2026, and the AI250, planned for 2027. Both chips will power full liquid-cooled server racks capable of running up to 72 chips as one system, matching Nvidia’s and AMD’s top-end GPU configurations.

These chips are optimized for AI inference, the process of running trained models — a space with growing demand from companies deploying generative AI applications.

Strategic Focus on Energy Efficiency and Cost-Effective AI Hardware

Qualcomm’s entry targets energy-efficient, low-cost AI systems — a major concern for hyperscalers running large-scale AI models.

The company claims its rack-scale systems use 160 kilowatts of power, on par with Nvidia GPU racks but with better energy savings and lower operating costs.

Its AI cards support up to 768GB of memory, surpassing current offerings from Nvidia and AMD, a key differentiator for handling large language models.

Qualcomm Expands Client Base with Saudi Arabia’s Humain Partnership

In May, Qualcomm partnered with Saudi Arabia’s Humain, which committed to deploy systems using up to 200 megawatts of power.

The collaboration is expected to make Humain one of the first global adopters of Qualcomm’s AI inference technology.

Executives noted that cloud providers and hyperscalers can mix and match Qualcomm’s chips, CPUs, and other components — giving them more flexibility than competitors’ closed ecosystems.

Qualcomm Challenges Nvidia’s Dominance in AI Chip Market

The move puts Qualcomm in direct competition with Nvidia, which currently commands over 90% of the AI GPU market, and AMD, which recently secured deals with OpenAI.

Nvidia’s GPUs power leading AI models like OpenAI’s GPT series, but companies are now seeking alternative suppliers amid high costs and chip shortages.

Qualcomm’s strategy — focusing on AI inference rather than training — could carve out a niche in data center efficiency and AI scalability.

Analysts’ revised price targets and ratings for Qualcomm (QCOM) show a generally positive outlook with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating. Based on 24 to 31 analysts over the past few months:

• The average price target ranges from about $183 to $188, implying an upside of approximately 8.5% to 9.9% from recent prices.
• The highest price target is around $225, and the lowest is $140 according to multiple sources.
• Recent notable price targets include $200 from Susquehanna, Piper Sandler, and Rosenblatt, indicating an upside of about 9.3% to 18.4% depending on the price reference.
• Ratings breakdown: Majority are buy ratings (around 13-14 out of 24 analysts), several hold ratings (around 9), and very few sell ratings (1), with some strong buy recommendations as well.
• Key institutions like Bernstein, J.P. Morgan, Mizuho Securities, and Bank of America have reiterated Buy ratings with targets between $160 and $200.
• The consensus rating score is around 2.5 on a 1 to 5 scale, supporting the Moderate Buy categorization.

With Qualcomm’s market cap now around $182 billion, the surge reflects renewed investor confidence.

Qualcomm (QCOM) stock’s day range was between $168.82 and $205.25, showing significant volatility on the positive side. Year-to-date, QCOM has returned approximately 11.86%, and over the past 12 months, it gained about 9.44%, with the current price well above its 50-day ($163.34) and 200-day ($157.06) moving averages, indicating strong technical momentum.

The stock’s earnings per share (EPS) stand at 10.36, with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 18.58, suggesting a reasonable valuation given the growth prospects.

The company is also engaging with major cloud providers such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platform to deploy AI server racks based on Qualcomm’s new hardware, potentially creating a substantial new revenue stream.

Looking at the stock’s historical performance, Qualcomm has seen an overall return of about 50,360% since its public debut in 1991, averaging a 20.18% annual growth rate. Recent years have been mixed with sharp gains in 2023 (+35.07%) and 2020 (+77.08%), but also significant losses in 2022 (−38.58%). Year-to-date in 2025, the stock has already gained nearly 12%.

Analysts see this as the start of a long-term growth cycle, as Qualcomm transitions from mobile chips to AI-driven infrastructure, one of tech’s fastest-growing frontiers.