New York, May 24, 2026, 16:04 EDT
Qualcomm rallied hard last week. Stock closed Friday up 11.6% at $238.16 after running as high as $243.00. For the week, Qualcomm gained 18.2% from last Friday’s finish. Trading volume for the day was 30.38 million shares.
Qualcomm is drawing attention again as investors debate if it should be seen as something more than a handset-chip company. Stellantis gave things a fresh push after saying it would expand its tech partnership with Qualcomm and use the Snapdragon Digital Chassis across cockpit, connectivity, and ADAS systems—the software that lets cars steer, brake, and stay in lane while the driver is alert. Stellantis tech chief Ned Curic said it would let the company scale features with “unprecedented speed and efficiency.” Qualcomm’s Nakul Duggal called the move a “meaningful inflection point.” Stellantis.com
U.S. markets will stay shut on Monday, May 25, for Memorial Day, Nasdaq said. Stocks will reopen Tuesday. Investors now have another day to think about whether Friday’s action signaled a reset or was only a squeeze before the holiday.
The Dow hit a record close Friday, while the S&P 500 booked its eighth week of gains in a row. Semis were mostly stronger. Qualcomm led the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index higher, Reuters said, though Nvidia dropped 1.9%. “The picture looks really solid” after good earnings and steady data, said James St. Aubin, CIO at Ocean Park Asset Management. Reuters
Qualcomm reported a 13% drop in handset revenue for the latest quarter, while automotive revenue rose 38% to $1.33 billion and internet-of-things was up 9%. The company put its current-quarter revenue forecast between $9.2 billion and $10.0 billion. Qualcomm said memory supply constraints are still limiting demand from some handset buyers.
The next leg for the rally is tied to new growth spots: auto chips, on-device AI, and custom data-center silicon aimed at big cloud customers. In April, CEO Cristiano Amon told investors Qualcomm was “excited by our entry into the data center.” That line has stuck since, especially after shares surged in May. Q4 Capital
Qualcomm trades higher with other chip stocks on AI buzz. The story’s not as clean as Nvidia, though—Qualcomm still leans hard on smartphones. Auto chips are a longer play, with design wins that may not show up in sales for years.
Execution is in focus. Stellantis shares barely moved after it laid out its 60 billion euro plan last week. Fabio Caldato at AcomeA told Reuters there’s “execution risk and limited visibility” around the plan. If tech tie-ups don’t deliver new cars soon, or if Qualcomm’s handset slump sticks around, Friday’s rerating could unwind quickly. Reuters
Qualcomm will be on watch Tuesday to see if action picks up after the market holiday. No earnings from Qualcomm this week, with the next scheduled event being Investor Day 2026 on June 24. That’s when executives are set to talk about the auto, AI, and data-center story for the stock.
QCOM shares aren’t trading like a straight handset-cycle story at the moment. The market seems to be pricing in more optionality, and that can help a stock stay popular for a while. But it also means beating expectations could get harder.
Related articles: NASDAQ:QCOM
