Alphabet discloses $548 million Qualcomm stake, likely from the Modular deal rather than a new purchase

Alphabet, Google's parent company, disclosed in its third-quarter 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it held about 2.98 million shares of Qualcomm, worth roughly $548 million, as of September 30. It is the first time Qualcomm has appeared in Alphabet's portfolio, where it immediately became the sixth-largest holding. The filing was signed on November 5 and submitted on November 6, and Qualcomm shares rose about 3% in premarket trading after the disclosure.

Stake likely came through GV, not a market purchase

However, further filings suggest the position is probably not a fresh cash purchase by Alphabet. The holding is managed by Alphabet's venture arm GV, which had invested in AI software startup Modular. Qualcomm agreed on June 21 to buy Modular and closed the deal on July 28, paying mostly in Qualcomm stock. A Qualcomm prospectus dated July 31 listed two GV funds as holding a combined 3,196,261 Qualcomm shares from the acquisition — close to the 2,976,982 shares in the 13F, a gap of about 219,279 shares that neither company has explained. In other words, the stake looks like a venture investment that converted into Qualcomm stock when the startup was sold, rather than a new bet on the chipmaker.

Qualcomm's data-centre pivot in focus

The market's interest stems from Qualcomm's effort to reduce its reliance on smartphones and expand into data centres. In its fiscal 2026 results on November 4, Qualcomm reiterated a target of $5 billion in data-centre revenue in fiscal 2027 and more than $15 billion by fiscal 2029. Qualcomm's total revenue for fiscal 2026 was $43.1 billion. Alphabet and Qualcomm have worked together for years on Android phones, Chromebooks and automotive AI chips, but there is no public evidence that Google has ordered data-centre chips from Qualcomm. Alphabet's total 13F portfolio was worth about $88.3 billion at the end of the third quarter, down from about $99.1 billion in the previous quarter — a decline of about 10.9%, driven mainly by price moves in its core holdings.

(Sources: Reuters; The Information; US SEC Form 13F; AI Stock Wire.)