Nvidia may be the AI darling, but it’s time to start looking at this chip stock, one CIO says
Chipmaker Nvidia is the “key driver” of the artificial intelligence boom — but another company has a lot going for it too, according to one chief investment officer. Tema ETFs’ Yuri Khodjamirian is keeping a close watch on chip designer Qualcomm Inc . Though Nvidia is one of the most prominent names in the semiconductor industry, “there’s so many different other nuances, whether you get into cell phones [or] the large language models that are needed for artificial intelligence,” he told CNBC’s ” Squawk Box Europe ” on Sept. 5. “I think Qualcomm is a really interesting company. It had a very, very strong position in connectivity chips … It’s trying to become more than just a one trick pony.” Qualcomm’s biggest segment is its handsets business; the company designs chips used in the smartphones of tech giants such as Samsung. As AI shifts from data centers — an Nvidia “stronghold” — to the ” edge ,” investors should “start looking at companies like Qualcomm,” Khodjamirian said. And “edge AI” is more than about chips — “it’s really everything, the silicon content of our mobile phones and PCs, has to go up, because you need better memory; you need better connectivity between the different semiconductors. And the real fundamental thing is, it’s a productivity increase for the users,” Khodjamirian added. Shares in the Nasdaq-listed Qualcomm are up around 10% year-to-date, not nearly as much as the over 110% jump in Nvidia’s shares. Qualcomm’s shares are currently trading at around 15.3 times forward earnings, while Nvidia has a multiple of around 38, according to FactSet data. QCOM YTD mountain Year-to-date shares in Qualcomm Inc Qualcomm’s revenue came in at $9.39 billion for its fiscal third-quarter fiscal year , topping analysts’ forecasts of $9.22 billion. The company’s CEO Cristiano Amon told CNBC recently that Qualcomm is working with Samsung and Google on a mixed-reality of glasses linked to a smartphone. ‘Emerging Edge AI play’ Analysts at KeyBanc Capital Markets are bullish on Qualcomm and have a target price of $225 on the stock, or 55.8% upside. “We continue to recommend owning QCOM, as we like the Company’s positioning as an emerging edge AI play in smartphones and PCs, and diversification into autos,” the market research firm’s analysts wrote in an Aug. 13 research note. According to FactSet data, of 39 analysts covering Qualcomm, 25 give it a buy or overweight rating, 13 have a hold call, and one has a sell rating. Their average price target on the stock is $219.06, giving it nearly 38% potential upside. — CNBC’s Kif Leswing, Arjun Kharpal and Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
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