- Qualcomm shares rose 4% in premarket trading on Thursday after the smartphone-focused chipmaker signaled an AI-fueled rebound in demand, especially in China, after a two-year slump.
"Chinese vendors who traditionally relied more on MediaTek, are going to start leveraging Qualcomm's high-end chips more as they push hard into the AI Agenda," said IDC analyst Nabila Popal. The company, the biggest supplier of smartphone chips, was on course to add more than $8 billion to its market value based on premarket movements. Other semiconductor firms such as Arm and Broadcom rose 2.8% and 2.4%, respectively.
"We're optimistic that numbers can be driven higher, given last year's muted Android cycle and the likelihood of IoT improvement as inventory normalizes," analysts at Wolfe Research said.Qualcomm's shares have gained 13.5% this year following a 31.5% rise in 2023.