San Diego, May 22, 2026, 08:05 PDT
- Qualcomm stock jumped after Stellantis expanded its multi-year partnership on auto chips.
- Qualcomm is getting more involved in cockpit, connectivity and driver-assist tech in upcoming Stellantis models with the deal.
- Analysts are still divided. Some have raised price targets, but most ratings stick with Hold.
Qualcomm shares climbed Friday after Stellantis said it will use Snapdragon Digital Chassis tech in more upcoming vehicles, expanding a multi-year deal with the chipmaker.
Qualcomm is looking to show it can expand past phones. QCOM shares traded at $240.44, up 12.7% at 10:59 a.m. EDT. Volume stood at 12.7 million shares, giving Qualcomm a market cap near $253 billion.
Stellantis and Qualcomm on May 21 said they’re widening their deal to cover cockpit tech, connectivity and ADAS features, with ADAS aimed at supporting things like steering, braking and safety warnings. The deal brings in Snapdragon Ride Pilot, which is designed to scale to Level 2+ hands-free driving. Drivers still need to watch the road.
Stellantis Chief Engineering and Technology Officer Ned Curic said the move would help the company “scale smarter” connected features throughout its brands. Qualcomm automotive head Nakul Duggal said pushing the technology wider was a “meaningful inflection point.” Stellantis.com
Qualcomm is showing more of its push to diversify, as the company posted fiscal Q2 revenue of $10.6 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $2.65 a share. The chip unit’s automotive revenue hit a quarterly high, while combined automotive and IoT revenue climbed 20% year over year.
Stellantis is pushing ahead. Reuters said the automaker’s fresh five-year plan puts 60 billion euros on the table, calls for 60 new models by 2030, and shifts more of the load to partners like Qualcomm, Applied Intuition and Wayve to bring down software and autonomous driving costs.
Wall Street’s sentiment on the stock had been growing. QCOM jumped 5.4% Thursday, closing at $213.41, and saw volume run 83% above the norm, MarketBeat said. Even so, the analyst breakdown there stayed at Hold, with 14 Buys, 16 Holds, and four Sells.
Melius Research’s Ben Reitzes bumped up his price target on Qualcomm to $220 from $170 on May 18 but kept his Hold call, according to TipRanks. TipRanks also showed Baird analyst Tristan Gerra went with a $300 target. Barclays’ Thomas O’Malley has a Sell on the shares and sees them at $150.
Yahoo Finance shared an Insider Monkey piece on May 21 that put Qualcomm among Ken Fisher’s main tech stocks. The article also quoted Aletheia Capital’s Hold call, which noted AI demand is spreading into more types of chips—CPUs and custom units designed for certain purposes—not just graphics chips.
Risks remain. The Stellantis award is non-binding and depends on final terms, due diligence, and possible regulatory approval. Delays or a deal smaller than investors expect are both possible.
Competition is a factor for Qualcomm. The company is pushing into AI, automotive and edge computing, with Intel, AMD, Marvell and Micron also being judged on their ability to lock in AI-related revenue. Melius put Qualcomm in the same category as those peers in its latest note, but kept a Hold rating on the stock instead of shifting it into the Buy group.
For now, investors see the Stellantis deal as evidence that Qualcomm’s auto business is getting bigger. The key test comes when the deal leads to actual shipments, licensing terms, and revenue that can help balance out swings in handset sales.
