Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Down 7.6% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Qualcomm shares fell 7.6% in Friday trading, dropping as low as $186.18 before closing near $189.39, with volume running well above average.
• The company’s recent Investor Day signaled a bigger growth push beyond smartphones, including a $40 billion fiscal 2029 non-handset revenue target and more than $15 billion in data center AI revenue.
• Analysts remain mixed but increasingly constructive: several firms raised price targets and ratings, though the average rating is still only “Hold,” reflecting execution risk as Qualcomm expands into new AI and cloud markets.

Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) traded down 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $186.18 and last traded at $189.39. Approximately 36,505,189 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 115% from the average session volume of 16,953,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $204.90.

Qualcomm News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm lifted its long-term revenue outlook, including a $40 billion fiscal 2029 non-handset target and over $15 billion in data center AI revenue, reinforcing the company’s growth story beyond handsets.
• Positive Sentiment: New partnerships with Meta and Microsoft give Qualcomm credible early customers for its data center push, reducing skepticism around execution.
• Positive Sentiment: The planned Modular acquisition should improve Qualcomm’s AI software capabilities and support its expansion into enterprise AI and cloud workloads.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts broadly turned more constructive, with upgraded ratings and higher price targets, but some still warn execution risk remains high as Qualcomm builds out new businesses.
• Negative Sentiment: The opportunity is still largely a long-term story: the chips and data center products are not yet fully in production, so near-term results may not immediately reflect the new growth targets.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Qualcomm from $190.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Freedom Capital cut Qualcomm from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Summit Insights upgraded shares of Qualcomm from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $218.03.

Qualcomm Trading Down 7.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $199.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 24.50 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $199.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.69.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.09. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 42.11% and a net margin of 22.31%.The business had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.85 earnings per share. Qualcomm's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Qualcomm Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. This is a positive change from Qualcomm's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Qualcomm's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

Qualcomm announced that its board has approved a share buyback program 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 purchase up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Qualcomm

In related news, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total transaction of $167,267.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.34, for a total transaction of $325,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,999,352.56. This trade represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 21,806 shares of company stock valued at $3,928,958 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualcomm

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 24.7% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,975,238 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $383,151,000 after buying an additional 589,717 shares during the period. Southern Financial Group LLC grew its stake 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 worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its holdings in Qualcomm by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 29,713 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $3,826,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. increased its holdings in Qualcomm by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 6,518 shares of the wireless technology company's stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust raised its stake in Qualcomm by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust now owns 712 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.35% of the company's stock.

About Qualcomm

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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