Qualcomm (QCOM) Stock Today: Premarket Move, AI Catalysts, Alphawave Deal and 2026 Forecast (December 11, 2025)

Updated: December 11, 2025 – around 6:00 a.m. EST, premarket

Qualcomm stock premarket today: where QCOM stands before the bell

As U.S. markets gear up to open on Thursday, Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) is easing back after a strong rally on Wednesday.

Premarket price (approx. 6:00 a.m. EST): about $180.10, down $2.11 or ‑1.16% versus the prior regular‑session close of $182.21. ^[1]
Previous close (Dec 10, 2025):$182.21, up 3.53% on the day, with a trading range between $175.25 and $183.44. ^[2]
52‑week range: roughly $120.80–$205.95. ^[3]
Market cap: about $194 billion. ^[4]
Dividend yield: around 1.9–2.0%, based on a $0.89 quarterly dividend. ^[5]

Public premarket data and Investing.com both show Qualcomm changing hands near $180.10 in early trading, with premarket volume just under 12,000 shares, indicating relatively light activity so far. ^[6]

In short: after a big AI‑driven pop on Wednesday, QCOM is giving back a bit of ground premarket but still sits close to the top half of its 52‑week range.

Why Qualcomm surged yesterday: LG AI vehicle news and a dovish Fed

LG‑Qualcomm AI Cabin Platform drives an automotive AI re‑rating

One of the clearest catalysts behind Wednesday’s 3.5% jump in Qualcomm stock was a new AI collaboration with LG Electronics.

A fresh report from CoinCentral notes that Qualcomm shares gained about 3.53% after news that the company and LG will debut an “AI Cabin Platform” at CES 2026 in Las Vegas. ^[7]

Key points from that coverage:

The platform is designed for digital cockpits in next‑generation cars.
It integrates generative AI into in‑vehicle infotainment, promising richer voice and visual experiences for drivers and passengers. ^[8]
Analysts quoted in the article argue this helps position Qualcomm as a key AI automotive solutions provider, complementing LG’s ambitions in electronics and mobility systems. ^[9]

For investors, this adds another tangible proof point to Qualcomm’s automotive growth story, on top of the billion‑dollar‑plus auto quarterly run‑rate it has already achieved.

Fed rate cut sparks a sector‑wide chip rally

The broader market backdrop also helped. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 basis points and signaled a less‑hawkish stance while announcing plans to purchase $40 billion of Treasury bills per month to rebuild reserves. ^[10]

A Barchart/Nasdaq market wrap highlights that:

The S&P 500 hit a six‑week high and the Nasdaq 100 a five‑week high following the decision. ^[11]
Chipmakers led the charge, with Qualcomm closing up more than 3% alongside peers like Micron, Marvell and Applied Materials. ^[12]

Put together, AI‑automotive news + a dovish Fed + a strong semiconductor tape created an ideal setup for Qualcomm’s sharp move higher—making today’s modest premarket dip look more like consolidation than a change of trend.

Fresh Qualcomm headlines on December 11, 2025

1. Institutional investors keep adding QCOM, even as insiders trim

New 13F‑style filings highlighted by MarketBeat show that large asset managers continue to increase their Qualcomm exposure:

Becker Capital Management lifted its QCOM position by about 1.1% in Q2 to 279,048 shares, valued around $44.4 million, making Qualcomm its 20th‑largest holding at roughly 1.4% of the portfolio. ^[13]
CIBC Asset Management boosted its stake by 2.5% to 410,381 shares, worth approximately $65.4 million. ^[14]

The same CIBC‑focused note underscores that institutional investors collectively hold more than 74% of Qualcomm’s shares, reflecting strong long‑term sponsorship. ^[15]

On the other hand, the filing summary also flags notable insider selling in recent months, including:

CEO Cristiano Amon selling 150,000 shares at an average price around the mid‑$160s.
Total insider sales over 90 days exceeding 160,000 shares, worth about $27 million, with insiders owning under 0.1% of shares outstanding. ^[16]

Insider selling after a big run is not unusual for a large‑cap tech name, but it’s something short‑term traders may keep an eye on alongside institutional buying trends.

2. Alphawave acquisition: new takeover‑code disclosures show deal momentum

Qualcomm’s $2.4 billion acquisition of Alphawave Semi—a UK‑listed specialist in high‑speed wired connectivity and chiplets for AI data centers—remains a central part of the long‑term thesis. ^[17]

Recent developments:

The acquisition is being executed through Aqua Acquisition Sub LLC, an indirect, wholly owned Qualcomm subsidiary. ^[18]
Fresh Form 8.3 and 8.5 disclosures under the UK Takeover Code, filed in recent days by institutions like Invesco, Morgan Stanley and BMO InvestorLine, detail trading in Alphawave shares “acting in concert” with Qualcomm’s bid vehicle. ^[19]
A late‑November update from DirectorsTalk noted that key regulatory approvals for the Alphawave deal have now been obtained and that the transaction—structured via a UK court‑sanctioned scheme of arrangement—continues to progress towards a planned close in early 2026. ^[20]

Strategically, Alphawave’s IP and chiplet technology are expected to plug directly into Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU and Hexagon NPU roadmap, strengthening its push into AI‑heavy data‑center and edge‑computing infrastructure. ^[21]

3. Governance and shareholder‑rights questions enter the conversation

A new Yahoo Finance opinion piece titled “The Bull Case For QUALCOMM (QCOM) Could Change Following New Shareholder Meeting Rights And Governance Shift” suggests that investors are now weighing recent changes to Qualcomm’s shareholder‑meeting rights and governance structure as part of the investment case. ^[22]

The article, published overnight, does not alter the core earnings or AI growth narrative, but it highlights that corporate governance is becoming a more prominent factor in how some analysts frame the long‑term bull case.

4. Qualcomm spotlighted among 2025’s standout semiconductor names

In a sector‑wide review of 2025 semiconductor winners, 24/7 Wall St. points to Qualcomm’s most recent results as evidence of credible AI‑driven execution:

Q4 FY2025 revenue: about $11.27 billion, up 10% year‑over‑year.
QCT (chip) revenue:$9.82 billion, +13% YoY.
Record automotive revenue of roughly $1.1 billion, +17% YoY. ^[23]
Combined automotive + IoT revenue grew about 27% for the quarter. ^[24]

The same coverage notes that Qualcomm’s gross margin sits in the mid‑50% range, with a non‑GAAP EPS of $3.00, up roughly 12% versus a year ago and above consensus forecasts. ^[25]

Earnings, tax noise and dividend: what the latest results really show

Qualcomm’s fiscal Q4 2025 and full‑year data, released on November 5, underpin much of today’s bullish commentary.

Strong underlying quarter

Across the company’s own release and follow‑up analysis: ^[26]

Revenue:$11.27 billion (vs. ~$10.76B consensus), up 10% YoY.
Non‑GAAP EPS:$3.00 (vs. ~$2.87 consensus), up about 12% YoY.
QCT segment:$9.82B (+13% YoY), including
- Handsets around $7.0B (+14% YoY),
- Automotive roughly $1.1B (+17% YoY),
- IoT near $1.8B (+7% YoY). ^[27]
QTL (licensing):$1.41B, down about 7% YoY but still highly profitable. ^[28]

Despite the strong operational performance, QCOM reported a GAAP net loss for the quarter due to a non‑cash tax charge of about $5.7 billion tied to new U.S. tax legislation and a valuation allowance on certain deferred tax assets. TechStock²

Analysts widely treat this as an accounting one‑off that depresses trailing GAAP EPS but could lower future cash taxes, improving long‑term free cash flow. TechStock²+1

For the full fiscal year 2025, Qualcomm generated about $44.3 billion in revenue and $12.03 in non‑GAAP EPS, reinforcing the view that this was one of the company’s strongest operational years, especially for its chip division. TechStock²+1

Q1 FY2026 outlook: guidance above the Street

Looking ahead, management’s Q1 FY2026 guidance is an important pillar of the bull case:

Revenue:$11.8–12.6 billion
Non‑GAAP EPS:$3.30–3.50

Both metrics are above prior Wall Street expectations that were closer to $11.6B in revenue and about $3.26 in EPS, signaling confidence in an AI‑driven premium smartphone upgrade cycle plus continued double‑digit growth in automotive and IoT. TechStock²+224/7 Wall St.+2

Dividend and shareholder returns

In October, Qualcomm announced it would pay a $0.89 quarterly cash dividend on December 18, 2025 to shareholders of record as of December 4, maintaining its pattern of regular distributions. ^[29]

At current prices, that equates to a dividend yield around 2%, and recent commentary notes that Qualcomm returned roughly $3.4 billion to shareholders in Q4 alone via dividends and buybacks—about $12.6 billion for fiscal 2025. ^[30]

AI everywhere: from cars and phones to PCs and data centers

Data center AI: AI200 and AI250, plus Alphawave

Qualcomm’s move beyond smartphones into AI data centers has been one of the most important story shifts in 2025.

In late October, Qualcomm unveiled two AI inference chips for data centers, AI200 and AI250, targeting commercial availability in 2026 and 2027. ^[31]
Reuters and other outlets reported that the announcement sparked a single‑day share price jump of around 20%, underscoring market enthusiasm for Qualcomm’s entry into server‑class AI. ^[32]
A Saudi‑backed AI startup, Humain, has been highlighted as an early customer, planning a 200‑megawatt deployment of Qualcomm AI racks starting in 2026. ^[33]

The planned Alphawave Semi acquisition slots directly into this strategy by adding high‑speed wired connectivity IP and custom silicon used in AI training and inference infrastructure, positioning Qualcomm as a more complete, power‑efficient alternative in AI data centers and at the edge. ^[34]

AI PCs and Windows on ARM

On the PC side, Qualcomm is betting that AI‑accelerated laptops will be a multi‑billion‑dollar opportunity:

CEO Cristiano Amon has pointed to the Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme as flagship AI laptop chips, targeting performance and energy efficiency that can challenge traditional x86 incumbents. ^[35]
Recent commentary notes more than 100–150 design wins slated through 2026, and a company goal of hitting roughly $4 billion in PC revenue by FY2029. ^[36]

If Snapdragon‑powered Windows on ARM machines gain notable share in premium and enterprise laptops, it could become a meaningful second leg of Qualcomm’s AI earnings story, alongside smartphones.

Automotive, IoT and XR

Beyond Wednesday’s LG AI Cabin announcement, Qualcomm’s latest filings and earnings coverage highlight:

Automotive revenue surpassing $1 billion in a single quarter for the first time, with a long‑term goal of $22 billion in combined Automotive + IoT revenue by FY2029. ^[37]
Growing penetration in smart glasses and XR devices, including Meta’s Ray‑Ban and Oakley wearables and Samsung’s Galaxy XR headset, all powered by Snapdragon platforms. ^[38]

These segments don’t yet rival smartphones in scale, but they broaden Qualcomm’s AI silicon footprint across vehicles, wearables and industrial applications.

Wall Street forecasts and valuation for QCOM in 2026

Consensus ratings and price targets

Across major data providers, Qualcomm currently sits firmly in “buy” territory:

Investing.com:
- Average 12‑month price target:$191.8
- Range:$157–$225
- Analyst stance:16 Buy, 1 Sell, overall rating “Buy”, implying about 5% upside from recent levels. ^[39]
MarketBeat:
- Consensus rating “Moderate Buy”, with a cluster of price targets around $191, and recent raises such as TD Cowen to $205, JPMorgan to $210, Mizuho to $200, Rosenblatt to $225 and Citigroup to $175. ^[40]
QuiverQuant compiles a more concentrated set of nine recent targets, with a median around $200, including UBS at $185, Bank of America at $215, Wells Fargo at $165, Mizuho at $200, Rosenblatt at $225, Piper Sandler at $200 and JPMorgan at $210. None of these are outright “Sell” ratings; most are Buy/Overweight/Positive. ^[41]

Taken together, Wall Street sees mid‑single‑digit to low‑double‑digit upside over the next year, with some high‑conviction targets implying more.

Earnings estimates and forward multiple

TechStock²’s December 10 round‑up of earnings models and valuation data points to: TechStock²

FY2026 EPS: around $12.11
FY2027 EPS: around $12.41

At a share price in the $180–$182 region, that equates to a forward P/E in the mid‑teens (around 15x 2026 earnings)—a discount to the most expensive AI GPU leaders, but not a deep value multiple either. TechStock²+1

Performance‑wise, Qualcomm’s 2025 year‑to‑date total return sits in the mid‑teens, versus roughly 40% for some semiconductor ETFs heavily weighted toward pure data‑center names. TechStock²+1

That has led several commentators to frame Qualcomm as sitting “between hype and value”—a solid AI‑enabled compounder with a dividend and diversified revenue, but without the ultra‑stretched multiples seen in some GPU‑centric peers. TechStock²+1

Legal overhangs ease, but not all risks are gone

In late September, Qualcomm scored a decisive legal victory over Arm Ltd. in long‑running litigation related to Nuvia CPU license agreements. A U.S. District Court confirmed Qualcomm’s December 2024 jury win, dismissed Arm’s remaining claims and entered final judgment in Qualcomm’s favor, affirming that its custom CPU cores based on Nuvia technology are properly licensed. ^[42]

The ruling significantly reduces legal uncertainty over Qualcomm’s next‑generation CPU roadmap, which underpins its PC and potentially data‑center ambitions. However, Qualcomm’s separate lawsuit against Arm, alleging breach of contract and interference with customer relationships, is still expected to head to trial in March 2026, so legal headlines are not entirely behind the company. ^[43]

Other key risks investors and traders will be watching:

Integration risk around the Alphawave acquisition and execution in data‑center AI against entrenched competitors like Nvidia and AMD. ^[44]
Smartphone cyclicality, especially if the AI upgrade cycle slows or macro conditions weaken. TechStock²+1
Governance concerns flagged in today’s Yahoo Finance piece, depending on how shareholders interpret recent changes to meeting rights and board structures. ^[45]

What to watch for the rest of today

Heading into the open on December 11, 2025, the setup for Qualcomm stock looks like this:

Short term: QCOM is pulling back modestly in premarket after a strong AI‑ and Fed‑driven rally, with light early volume. Watch how it trades around the $180 level and whether Wednesday’s gains invite profit‑taking or dip‑buying. ^[46]
News flow: Any further detail on LG’s AI Cabin Platform, additional Alphawave takeover filings, or clarifications around governance changes could influence intraday sentiment. ^[47]
Macro: After the Fed’s latest cut and liquidity boost, markets are calibrating how many additional rate moves might come in 2026; risk assets, including semis, could stay volatile. ^[48]

From a bigger‑picture perspective, Qualcomm’s story today is less about one premarket print and more about a multi‑year pivot: from a smartphone‑heavy franchise to a diversified AI platform spanning phones, cars, PCs and data centers, backed by growing auto/IoT revenue, a visible AI roadmap and an active M&A and legal strategy.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, recommendation or a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. Always do your own research or consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.