Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Qualcomm has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from 37 covering firms, with an average 1-year price target of about $220.45.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, posting $2.65 EPS versus the $2.56 estimate, while revenue came in at $10.60 billion and management issued Q3 2026 EPS guidance of 2.10 to 2.30.
• Qualcomm’s board authorized a $20 billion stock buyback, and institutional ownership remains high at 74.35% even as insiders have made recent stock sales.

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the thirty-seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twenty have issued a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $220.4483.

QCOM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Qualcomm from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $146.00 to $231.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Qualcomm from $190.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Freedom Capital lowered Qualcomm from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Evercore set a $179.00 price objective on Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday, April 30th.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

Shares of QCOM opened at $176.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $205.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.95. The stock has a market cap of $185.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Qualcomm has a one year low of $121.99 and a one year high of $259.92.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.09. Qualcomm had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 42.11%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.85 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Qualcomm will post 7.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Qualcomm declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 17th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the wireless technology company to reacquire up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $1,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 197,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,562,240. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total transaction of $167,267.33. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 21,721 shares of company stock worth $3,918,290 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualcomm

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QCOM. Hilltop National Bank grew its stake in Qualcomm by 2.7% in the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 7,047 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its position in Qualcomm by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 37,029 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Adelphi Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Qualcomm during the 2nd quarter worth about $286,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,975,238 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $383,151,000 after purchasing an additional 589,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Southern Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Southern Financial Group LLC now owns 2,596 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company's stock.

Qualcomm Company Profile

Qualcomm Incorporated is a global semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 1985, the company is known for its development of wireless technologies and for playing a central role in the evolution of digital cellular standards, including CDMA and subsequent generations of mobile standards. Qualcomm’s business combines the design and sale of semiconductor products with a patent licensing program for wireless technologies and related intellectual property.

The company’s product portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) platforms marketed under the Snapdragon brand, cellular modem and RF front-end components, connectivity solutions for Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth, and processors and platforms aimed at automotive, IoT, networking and edge-computing applications.

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