Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Up 5.8% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Qualcomm shares rose 5.8% in midday trading, reaching as high as $188.67 after closing at $176.25 the prior day, on volume slightly below average.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed: analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Qualcomm, with an average price target of $220.45 despite some recent target hikes and one upgrade to buy.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $2.65 per share on $10.60 billion in revenue, and it also has a $20 billion share buyback program that signals management confidence in the stock.

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM - Get Free Report) shot up 5.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $188.67 and last traded at $186.48. 15,359,946 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 10% from the average daily volume of 17,090,570 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QCOM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $220.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Qualcomm from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Lake Street Capital downgraded Qualcomm to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Qualcomm to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Qualcomm has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $220.45.

Qualcomm Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $205.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.87.

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

Qualcomm announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 17th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the wireless technology company to purchase up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualcomm

In other Qualcomm news, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total transaction of $569,024.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,735 shares in the company, valued at $7,065,677.70. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.35, for a total value of $493,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,684 shares in the company, valued at $5,068,737.40. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 21,721 shares of company stock worth $3,918,290 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Qualcomm during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,591,056,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Qualcomm by 141.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,437,240 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $2,069,059,000 after purchasing an additional 7,292,783 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $4,931,968,000 after purchasing an additional 3,221,924 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Qualcomm by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,645,603 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $2,163,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP raised its position in Qualcomm by 120.1% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,152,866 shares of the wireless technology company's stock valued at $502,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,529 shares during the last quarter. 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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