We're Ringing the Register on Qualcomm After AI Chip News Drives Surge

Symbol	Transaction Type	# Shares Traded	Recent Price $	Shares Owned After Trade	% Portfolio
QCOM	Sell	110	$198	1,110	3.85%

After you receive this alert, the Portfolio will sell 110 shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) at or near $198. Following the trade, the Portfolio will own 1,110 QCOM shares, roughly 3.85% of its assets.

On Monday morning, Qualcomm announced that it will enter the AI accelerator chip market in 2026, a move that advances its diversification strategy. Needless to say, the reception to the news is popping QCOM shares considerably on the morning, and no doubt folks across Wall Street will be upping their price targets for the shares in the coming days.

A number of recent data points from the strengthening smartphone market, including Apple (AAPL) shifting its iPhone mix toward iPhone 17 and Pro models that use Qualcomm’s chip, Intel’s (INTC) very positive comments about the AI and AI PC market and more smart glasses hitting shelves. That has have driven QCOM shares higher. But Monday morning’s news is not only spurring the re-think we’ve been talking about when it comes to the shares, it is also driving short covering as well. Per data from Nasdaq, as of October 15, roughly 23.8 million shares were short with an estimated 3.0 days to cover.

That’s a powerful one-two combination, and odds are once the euphoria settles down, folks will realize that not only is this a 2026 event, but the AI/data center landscape includes the likes of Nvidia (NVDA) , AMD (AMD) , ARM (ARM) , Broadcom (AVGO) , Marvell (MRVL) and others. Yes, we continue to see a rising tide lifting all boats, it’s just that on Monday, QCOM’s boat seems to be cresting a very lofty levels, and we’d rather take some chips off the table before that wave gives way.

While we view the AI move by Qualcomm as positive, and one that has been on our radar given its Alphawave acquisition, Monday's move is going to lead us to do some prudent register ringing, even as we reset our QCOM price target at $205 from $180. We will also downgrade the shares to a Two rating from One.

We are doing this given the likelihood that the shares will give back some of these massive gains in the coming days. However, given the positive developments we mentioned above, we do not see them retreating to levels seen in early August and September. As the company’s revenue diversification strategy accelerates next year, we see the shares continuing to move higher over time.

Bottom line, while we are long-term investors in QCOM shares, it would be a mistake not to take advantage of this sharp move higher from a portfolio management perspective.

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(Please note that we are looking to execute these trades at or near the share price mentioned above. Once the trade is completed, subscribers can see the trade's executed price here. Be sure to toggle the chart to sort by Purchase Date.)

At the time of publication, TheStreet Pro Portfolio was long QCOM, AAPL, NVDA and MRVL.