10 Best Semiconductor Stocks to Buy for the AI Boom

7. QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 74

QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) develops and licenses wireless technologies while designing chips for smartphones, making it a key player in the industry. With foundational patents in CDMA and OFDMA technologies powering 3G, 4G, and 5G networks, QCOM licenses its IP to nearly all wireless device makers and is the largest global supplier of wireless chips, providing advanced processors to top handset brands. The company also offers RF front-end modules for smartphones and supplies chips to automotive and IoT markets.

QCOM stock is up +16% in the last years and shows solid momentum as the company works on diversifying its business beyond smartphones, targeting $22 billion in revenue from adjacencies over the next 5 years. The automotive sector is a major growth opportunity as well, with the company seeing strong traction in digital cockpit solutions incorporating AI capabilities and expecting ADAS revenue to start materializing in the coming years. In the PC market, QCOM is gaining traction from the shift to AI PCs and projects $4 billion in revenue by 2029, while in smartphones, the focus is centered on premium and high-tier devices, seeing a 10% CAGR fueled by more computing and AI content.

QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) management commented on their accelerating markets during the UBS Global Technology and AI Conference. Here is what they said:

“I think we see GenAI as a very good accelerant of that opportunity, especially content. I am optimistic about the PC, looking at the landscape right now from the competitive environment we have built. I think we’re well positioned. I think one of the things I said in the earnings call, and I said that design traction is very good. We started with 20 platforms in May. We have 58 designs now by — in November, line of sight to about 100 designs as we get to early 2026. So, I’m excited about that. One thing that we think is very novel is what we’re doing of industrial, which is the same exact thing we did automotive, which is let’s not thinking about building a connected microcontroller for auto.

Let’s build a different platform. That’s exactly what to do with industrial with GenAI at the edge. I’m excited about that, even though that’s new, we’re still going to have to prove as with the annual milestones as we execute. But I think the opportunity of AI at the edge in industrial when you go from cloud back to on-prem is probably underestimated. I think that’s a great opportunity for us.”