Qualcomm surges 8% in after-hours as AI chip demand lifts sector

Qualcomm Inc. shares jumped more than 8% in US after-hours trading, reversing a sharp sell-off triggered by Nvidia Corp.'s entry into the PC chip market, as investors bet the mobile chipmaker's AI roadmap remains intact.

"The PC market is not Qualcomm's primary growth driver — its Snapdragon X series for mobile AI and automotive chips represent a much larger addressable market," said Stacy Rasgon, senior analyst at Bernstein. "The initial reaction to Nvidia's announcement was overdone."

Qualcomm had slumped 8.3% during the regular session after Nvidia unveiled the RTX Spark, which it called "the most efficient PC chip ever built," at the Computex trade show in Taipei. The sell-off erased roughly $18 billion in market value from the San Diego-based company before buyers stepped in after the closing bell.

The after-hours rebound came as investors reassessed the competitive threat. Nvidia's RTX Spark targets the PC gaming and consumer desktop market, while Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processors are designed for always-connected laptops and mobile AI workloads — segments where power efficiency and cellular connectivity matter more than raw graphics performance. Qualcomm's chips are manufactured on TSMC's 4nm process node, while Nvidia has not disclosed the foundry partner for RTX Spark.

The broader semiconductor sector showed signs of stabilization after last week's rout, which saw the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index fall 4.7%. Nvidia shares, which had dropped more than 6% on Friday, recovered 1.9% in Monday's regular session, pushing its market capitalization back above $5 trillion. Other chipmakers including Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Micron Technology Inc., and Intel Corp. also posted gains.

Qualcomm's after-hours surge suggests investors are betting on a positive catalyst — potentially an AI chip design win, a favorable licensing development, or quarterly results that beat expectations. The company is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter earnings in late July. Qualcomm trades at approximately 18 times forward earnings, a discount to the semiconductor peer group average of 22 times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.