Analyst Warns of Increased Competition for Qualcomm (QCOM) and Synaptics (SYNA)

We recently published a list of Top 10 Trending AI Stocks to Watch in November. In this article, we are going to take a look at where QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) stands against other trending AI stocks to watch in November.

Amid soaring valuations of AI stocks, beginner investors keep wondering whether they are too late to the AI party. However, investing experts believe that opportunities abound in the AI space because of the nature of this technological revolution.

While talking to Wall Street Journal during the WSJ Tech Live Conference, venture capitalist Martin Casado, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, explained why he believes there is no such thing as “too late” when it comes to AI for now.

“When it comes to AI, it really feels like the marginal cost of language, reasoning and creation are going to zero. And if that’s the case, this is a supercycle. And if that’s the case, we’ve got decades. So there’s no “too late.” In that sense, we’re still very, very early.”

The AI revolution is quickly entering the phase where we are seeing real-life use cases as AI is helping companies significantly reduce costs and increase efficiency. According to a detailed report published by Benesch’s AI Commission, an AI-based tool that monitors real-time data from electronic medical records reduced unexpected deaths in hospitalized internal medicine patients by 26%.

Casado also talked about the usability of AI models for actual problem-solving:

“Everybody looks at the OpenAIs. But as far as value creation and integration, if you look at all the private companies, the smaller companies that are building their own smaller models, they are some of the fastest-growing companies we’ve seen in the history of the industry.”

Also Read 10 Best Healthcare Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds and 10 Best Mid-Cap Healthcare Stocks to Buy Now.

For this article we picked 10 AI stocks trending on latest news and earnings. With each stock we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

An aerial view of a bustling semiconductor production zone showcasing the company’s integrated circuits.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 100

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Synaptics (NASDAQ:SYNA) were downgraded by KeyBanc Capital Markets recently after the research firm concluded what it called a “mixed” supply chain check in the semiconductor space. Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares fell 1.2% in premarket trading, while Synaptics was off 1%. Analyst John Vinh cut Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) to Sector Weight from Overweight amid increased competition worries from Apple (AAPL), more competition in the smartphone market, and the belief that it would emerge as a leader in edge AI, which has not played out as previously thought.

Earlier this year, O’keefe Stevens Advisory explained its bullish thesis on the stock based on these two factors in its investor letter, saying:

“During the quarter, the A.I. rally broadened beyond the obvious players of Nvidia, AMD, and hyperscalers. QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM), a long-standing investment, is gaining recognition for integrating artificial intelligence into mobile phones. Qualcomm’s A.I. on-device capabilities enable real-time language translation, improved voice recognition, and sophisticated imaging techniques as A.I. becomes more integral to mobile experiences. Qualcomm benefits by leading the market in providing robust, efficient, and versatile A.I. solutions. A.I. could be the first technology advancement in several years to accelerate the smartphone replacement cycle as users desire these advanced capabilities.”

The company’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform can power smartphones to process up to 10 billion parameters of generative AI models, effectively making them intelligent personal assistants.

What about AI PCs? Microsoft has announced that its Surface Laptop and Surface Pro will be powered by QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) chips. These devices can run several AI tasks without the internet.  QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) is a key partner of Microsoft to deliver Copilot+ PCs.

Overall, QCOM ranks 9th on our list of trending AI stocks to watch in November. While we acknowledge the potential of QCOM, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than QCOM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.