Benchmark starts Qualcomm with a Buy, expects leadership in AI on smartphones

As previously reported, Benchmark initiated coverage of Qualcomm with a Buy rating and $200 price target. As a “wireless industry leader,” the firm believes Qualcomm is “particularly well positioned to capitalize” on the industry’s trends of shifting AI computational inferencing workloads to the very edges of the network. The company is leveraging its strengths in wireless connectivity and computing to “lead the market in the ramp of GenAI smartphones and AI-PCs,” with both likely sparking long-term replacement cycles in their respective markets, the analyst tells investors.