Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) has been widely known in the mobile technology market for some time now, but its presence in the more conventional computing market has been generally minimal. That may be about to change as Qualcomm wants a piece of the artificial intelligence (AI) PC market, and two new chips may help it do just that. The move was good news for investors, who sent shares up fractionally in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
This isn’t the first such move that Qualcomm has made. Back in October, it rolled out a new line of Snapdragon X Elite processors geared toward Windows-driven laptops. Now, it has brought out the ARM-based Snapdragon X Plus chip, which is also geared toward the Windows laptop market.
They won’t actually be available for a couple months yet, set to be released in “mid-2024.” However, once released, they’ll be on par with some of the best in the desktop sector. Qualcomm’s X Elite, for example, will handle a 12-core Oryon central processing unit (CPU) along with an Adreno graphics processing unit (GPU).
As Strong as Advertised?
Certainly, Qualcomm’s processors sound like a powerhouse. But reports from Tom’s Hardware suggest that they may not be all they’re cracked up to be. Said reports note that allegations of cheating in Qualcomm’s benchmark testing have emerged, as “two major OEMs” and a “deep source at Qualcomm” noted that even “class-leading OEM developers” were unable to replicate the results that Qualcomm’s benchmark testing generated. That suggests something is wrong in the testing somewhere.
Is Qualcomm a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on QCOM stock based on 15 Buys, 10 Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 46.33% rally in its share price over the past year, the average QCOM price target of $171.27 per share implies 5.13% upside potential.
Is It Wise to Allocate $1,000 Toward QCOM Stock Right Now?
Before you hurry to invest in QCOM, think about the following:
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