Morgan Stanley Upgrades Qualcomm (QCOM) but Remains Cautious on AI Roadmap - Yahoo Finance

Morgan Stanley upgraded Qualcomm (QCOM) from Underweight to Equal-weight on June 25, 2026, raising its price target from $146 to $231. The move reflects confidence in Qualcomm’s expanding data center ... Read original →

Morgan Stanley’s upgrade of Qualcomm reflects less conviction in its AI execution and more anxiety over the narrowing window for second-tier AI chip players. Despite Microsoft’s tacit endorsement, Qualcomm’s LPU lacks a mature software stack—critical when NVIDIA’s CUDA and Cerebras’ wafer-scale architecture dominate developer mindshare. Technically, delays in closing its toolchain loop by late FY27 could derail OEM roadmaps for AI PCs and edge servers. Geopolitically, tightening U.S. controls on advanced packaging may inflate costs for CoWoS-dependent designs. NVIDIA is likely to counter by pushing Grace-Hopper into mid-tier inference markets, squeezing Qualcomm’s niche. Over the next 18 months, Qualcomm’s $5B data center target hinges not on transistor density but on co-developing vertical AI solutions with cloud providers—if it fails, revenue projections will remain speculative.