Core Insights - The article discusses the contrasting performance of Qualcomm Inc. compared to its peers in the semiconductor industry, particularly in the context of the AI boom [1][2]. Company Performance - Qualcomm's stock has gained just over 6% since the beginning of the year, significantly lagging behind the Nasdaq Composite's gain of over 17% and its closest competitors, Nvidia and Broadcom, which gained approximately 34% and 52% respectively [2]. - Despite launching new high-performance processors, the Snapdragon X2 Elite and Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, Qualcomm's stock performance remains subdued [3]. Market Dynamics - Qualcomm's stock has shown a rare pattern of performance, with eight out of the last ten weeks being up weeks, indicating potential statistical pressure for excessive bullishness [4][6]. - The stock has been sensitive to negative news, such as the antitrust investigation by China into Qualcomm's acquisition of Autotalks, which led to a significant drop in share price [7]. Investment Vehicles - Direxion offers ETFs that provide leveraged and inverse exposure to Qualcomm's stock, catering to both bullish and bearish investors [8][9]. - The Direxion Daily QCOM Bull 2X Shares (QCMU) aims to track 200% of Qualcomm's daily performance, while the Direxion Daily QCOM Bear 1X Shares (QCMD) provides 100% of the inverse performance [9][10]. - The QCMU ETF has gained 3% since its launch, with a notable 28% gain over a seven-week period starting from August 11 [12]. In contrast, the QCMD ETF has lost over 2% since its debut, but its value has risen during periods of skepticism towards AI [14][16].