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Is Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) the Best AI PC Stock to Buy Now?

Attiya Zainib
·4-min read

We recently published a list of the 8 Best AI PC Stocks to Buy Now. Since QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) ranks 6th in the list, it deserves a deeper look.

When the AI revolution began with the launch of ChatGPT, no one would have thought that down the road it would bring a huge growth catalyst for the PC industry, notorious for its cyclical nature and unpredictability. Fast forward to today, everyone is talking about PCs equipped with AI-focused equipment capable to process generative AI workloads. But in just a matter of few months why did the market feel the need for AI PCs? It all boils down to costs. GPT-4 costs $0.03 per 1,000 tokens for prompts and $0.06 for completion according to Microsoft’s estimates. Consider millions of users prompting LLMs from their phones and computers. The costs of scaling such systems are not feasible. That’s why the market thought allowing users to process AI-intensive workloads natively instead of using the Cloud is the future. And that caused the AI PC boom. Tech market analyst firm Canalys says AI PC shipments are expected to soar to 170 million in 2027, from 25 million in 2022. That would be a 60% share of the total PC market. The firm also expects AI PC shipments to double from 2023 to 2024 and double gain from 2024 to 2025.

Canalys also expects vendors to ship 205 million AI-capable PCs in 2028, representing a CAGR of 44% from 2024 through 2028.

For this article we scanned Insider Monkey’s database of 919 hedge funds and picked 8 AI PC stocks with the highest number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) the Best AI PC Stock to Buy Now?
Is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) the Best AI PC Stock to Buy Now?

A close up of a satisfied customer talking to an insurance agent.

QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 78

QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) was seen as a laggard in the AI arms race but all of a sudden the stock has a new growth catalyst: AI PCs. Microsoft has announced that its Surface Laptop and Surface Pro will be powered by QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) chips. These devices can run several AI tasks without the internet.  QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) is a key partner of Microsoft to deliver Copilot+ PCs.

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As of the end of the first quarter of 2024, 78 hedge funds out of the 919 funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM).

In addition to AI PCs, AI smartphones is another emerging growth catalyst for QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM). The company’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform can power smartphones to process up to 10 billion parameters of generative AI models, effectively making them intelligent personal assistants.

Wall Street expects Qualcomm’s revenue to grow 10% in 2025 and earnings to rise by 13.10% in the year. Despite these growth catalysts, QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) is trading at a forward P/E of 18.42, lower than the industry median of 23.73.

Madison Sustainable Equity Fund stated the following regarding QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:

“QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) also reported a solid fourth fiscal quarter with better than expected results. The company guided the first quarter ahead of expectations despite headwinds from Samsung as the inventory headwinds dissipate. Qualcomm remains well positioned in the mobile handset market and should benefit as Artificial Intelligence moves to edge devices which could drive an upgrade cycle.”

Overall, QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) ranks 6th on Insider Monkey’s list titled 8 Best AI PC Stocks to Buy Now. While we acknowledge the potential of QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM), our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than QUALCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

 

READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and Jim Cramer is Recommending These Stocks.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.