Qualcomm Surges, Nvidia Plummets on AI Bubble Fears

In the U.S. stock market, smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm saw its stock surge on strong earnings, while artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia experienced a sharp decline amid fears of an AI bubble, showing divergent trends. Semiconductor equipment stocks also rose in tandem.

Qualcomm announced its second-quarter fiscal year 2026 results (January-March) on April 30 (local time), reporting revenue of $10.6 billion and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.65, surpassing market expectations. Qualcomm's stock closed up 15.12% at $179.58. The stock's rise was attributed to its robust financial performance and the anticipation of new growth drivers, as CEO Cristiano Amon stated on a conference call that the company would begin supplying data center chips to major hyperscale cloud customers within the year.

In contrast, Nvidia, a leading AI chip stock, dropped 4.63%. This decline was driven by profit-taking following recent rapid gains and a renewed focus on the AI investment bubble theory, fueled by perceptions that major tech companies are overspending on AI infrastructure. Other AI semiconductor stocks showed mixed performance, with AMD climbing 5%.