New York, June 16, 2026, 09:10 EDT
- Qualcomm was last indicated at $220.81, up $9.07 or about 4.3%. The market cap sits around $236.7 billion.
- Qualcomm shares traded after reports came out that the company is negotiating a deal to buy AI chip firm Tenstorrent in the range of $8 billion to $10 billion. Investors are also watching for details at Qualcomm’s June 24 Investor Day.
Qualcomm shares ticked up in early U.S. trading Tuesday after word of a potential AI-chip deal, but the stock’s strong smartphone business still hung over the market. Reuters said Qualcomm gained in premarket trade following a report from The Information that it’s in talks to buy Tenstorrent, an AI-chip startup. Still, the move wasn’t all in one direction — Qualcomm slipped about 1% after hours after the news hit, according to Reuters, as traders tried to figure out the impact and size of a possible deal. Reuters
Qualcomm could speed up its move into AI infrastructure with the reported Tenstorrent deal, going further than just handset chips. Reuters said talks were still happening and the price wasn’t fixed, with a chance the deal might fall through. Reuters also said it couldn’t independently verify The Information’s report. Tenstorrent, started in 2016 and run by Jim Keller, makes AI accelerators, which can train or run AI models faster than standard processors. Qualcomm and Tenstorrent didn’t reply to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Qualcomm’s shares are still caught up in the question of whether it’s just a smartphone-chip maker. For the most recent quarter, Qualcomm reported $10.6 billion in revenue, off 3% from last year. Handset sales dropped 13%. Automotive revenue climbed 38%, and internet-of-things gained 9%. Bulls have pointed to the growth in cars and connected devices as signs the diversification is panning out, but the handset business is still under pressure. CEO Cristiano Amon said Qualcomm was “excited by our entry into the data center.” The company also said it expects to begin shipping a custom silicon product for a top hyperscaler later this year. SEC
Qualcomm’s Investor Day on June 24 is the next big event. CEO Cristiano Amon and other leaders plan to talk about their growth plans, touching on AI at the edge and in data centers. J.P. Morgan’s Samik Chatterjee called it a key test. He wants to see a fuller data-center push, with details on custom silicon, merchant CPUs and AI accelerators. Chatterjee kept his Neutral rating but bumped his price target to $265 from $160, according to GuruFocus via TradingView. Qualcomm
Qualcomm has a bull story on a possible new chip program for hyperscalers, a Tenstorrent tech angle, more from autos and IoT. But bears are weighing a big Tenstorrent deal that’s not confirmed, handset revenue still falling, and a list of flagged risks: customer concentration, customers making their own chips, China, execution around deals and getting past mobile handsets. Shares trade at 23.7 times earnings after Tuesday’s rally—so not a clear value pick. Based on what’s out there today, Qualcomm looks fairly valued but risky. Investors are watching for data-center updates on June 24 as an upside test, with a risk that AI hopes get ahead of the numbers.
