Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Price Up 2.5% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Qualcomm shares rose about 2.5% mid-day to $131.24 on Monday, with roughly 8.59 million shares traded—about 23% below average daily volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: MarketBeat shows an average rating of "Hold" with an average target of $163.77, while individual price targets range roughly from $140 to $200 and include Buy, Hold and Sell opinions.
• The company posted an earnings beat (Q1 EPS $3.50 vs. $3.38 expected; revenue $12.25B) and its board authorized a $20 billion share buyback (about 14.5% of shares outstanding).

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 2.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $131.30 and last traded at $131.24. Approximately 8,590,893 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 11,214,947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

QCOM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Qualcomm from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down from $175.00) on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Qualcomm from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Qualcomm from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $163.77.

Qualcomm Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $140.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $135.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The wireless technology company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.16 billion. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 44.09% and a net margin of 11.96%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.41 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.450-2.650 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Qualcomm declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 17th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the wireless technology company to repurchase up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Qualcomm

In other Qualcomm news, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.65, for a total transaction of $458,787.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,202.35. This represents a 8.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.00, for a total value of $438,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,245,841. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 6,618 shares of company stock valued at $907,855 over the last quarter. 0.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualcomm

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,144,068 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $19,524,350,000 after purchasing an additional 647,076 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,897,079 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $4,931,968,000 after purchasing an additional 3,221,924 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,727,862 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,861,301,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290,622 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Qualcomm during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,591,056,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 12,671,635 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $2,136,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,541 shares in 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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