TLDR
- Qualcomm stock rose ~4% in pre-market Tuesday after reports of a potential $8B–$10B acquisition of AI chip startup Tenstorrent
- The deal would boost Qualcomm’s data-center ambitions and bring in renowned chip engineer Jim Keller
- CEO Cristiano Amon revealed Qualcomm is working on 40+ new AI device designs, including wearables and smart glasses
- Qualcomm’s investor day on June 24 could reveal data-center revenue targets of $3B+ by 2027 and $35B by 2031
- Wall Street holds a consensus “Hold” on QCOM with an average price target of $184.36
Qualcomm stock was trading up around 4% in Tuesday pre-market, hitting $228.09, after two headlines hit at once — a potential blockbuster acquisition and a CEO laying out an ambitious AI roadmap.
The move adds to an already impressive run. QCOM has gained 68% over the past three months and is up roughly 30% year-to-date.
The big news came late Monday when The Information reported Qualcomm is in talks to acquire AI chip startup Tenstorrent for between $8 billion and $10 billion. Neither company responded to requests for comment Tuesday morning.
Tenstorrent builds accelerators for training AI models and running AI workloads. The company claims its chips run certain AI tasks more efficiently than general-purpose GPUs from Nvidia and others.
Part of the appeal here isn’t just the technology. Tenstorrent’s CEO is Jim Keller, a well-regarded chip architect who has worked at AMD, Apple, and Tesla. Bringing him aboard would be a statement of intent.
The talks are described as ongoing, and the price or outcome could still change.
Investor Day in Focus
All eyes are now on Qualcomm’s investor day scheduled for June 24. J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee expects Qualcomm to announce data-center revenue targets exceeding $3 billion in fiscal year 2027, scaling to $35 billion by fiscal year 2031.
Chatterjee placed Qualcomm on “Positive Catalyst Watch” but maintained a Neutral rating, citing an “increasingly competitive market” and a need to see execution follow the targets.
The company is also expected to name a major customer for its custom data-center chip at the event.
CEO Lays Out AI Device Roadmap
On CNBC’s The Tech Download podcast, CEO Cristiano Amon said Qualcomm is working on more than 40 designs for new AI-powered devices — things like smart jewelry, camera-equipped earbuds, pins, and watches.
Amon also made a case for smart glasses as a potential smartphone-scale product category. He said annual shipments are already in the “tens of millions” and could reach “hundreds of millions.”
On agentic AI, Amon said AI agents will increasingly handle complex tasks across apps and services. His example: an agent that instantly surfaces banking transaction details without a user having to search.
“Those agents are going to be the new app,” he said.
Qualcomm has been building out its portfolio steadily. Last year it acquired U.K.-based Alphawave Semi for $2.4 billion, picking up technology that speeds data transmission between chips.
Investors are setting aside concerns about elevated memory prices weighing on smartphone demand, and the risk of losing Apple as a modem customer as the iPhone maker moves to in-house chips.
Wall Street’s consensus sits at Hold — 19 Holds, 8 Buys, 4 Sells — with an average price target of $184.36, suggesting 16.5% downside from current levels.
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