Qualcomm Stock Turns South: 3 Entry Signals to Watch For

Key Points

• Qualcomm has once again lost steam, falling 10% late last week. 
• It’s still the clear laggard in the semiconductor space, but there are several reasons to keep it on your watchlist. 
• A breakout above $156, a MACD crossover, or a new analyst upgrade could flip sentiment quickly.

As we round the corner into June, tech giant Qualcomm Inc. NASDAQ: QCOM remains a frustrating stock to track. It fell as much as 10% during the second half of last week, continuing its trend of underperformance relative to the broader semiconductor sector.

Even after a bounce to start this week, the stock is still stuck in a sideways drift and has failed to inspire the kind of momentum investors are seeing across the broader market. 

But for those of us watching from the sidelines, there are still plenty of reasons to keep Qualcomm on the radar. As we’ve written about recently, the stock is trading cheap relative to the rest of the sector, and its core businesses remain fundamentally sound. The challenge has been market sentiment, not necessarily execution.

With that in mind, here are three signals to watch for an entry opportunity. 

1. A Break Above $156

Last week’s intraday high of $156 marked the top of a short-lived recovery attempt before the stock turned lower again. If Qualcomm can push through that level and close above it with volume, it would be a strong technical signal that a near-term breakout is on the table.

This would also mark the first meaningful higher high since late March, helping to reverse what has become a pattern of stop-start rallies and sputtering momentum. For short-term investors, in particular, confirmation of a fresh breakout would go a long way toward re-establishing confidence in the setup.

2. A Bullish MACD Crossover

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator is a key momentum tool, and it turned negative on Qualcomm late last week. This will have been a disappointing update for investors, especially as much of the stock’s rally from the lows of April happened after the last bullish crossover. Still, a return to form here would suggest that momentum is shifting back in favor of the bulls.

Many other stocks are enjoying multi-week rallies now, with MACDs that not only had an earlier bullish crossover than Qualcomm but also haven’t had a bearish one (yet). Given how frequently Qualcomm’s rallies have stalled out, this signal clearly carries weight.

3. Some Bullish Analyst Updates

Perhaps the most overlooked piece of the puzzle right now is the lack of recent analyst enthusiasm. Both since and even before Qualcomm’s earnings at the start of May, the commentary has been unusually subdued.

Unfortunately for Qualcomm bulls, it’s also worth noting that most of the rating updates in the days that followed May’s report were neutral, with few meaningful bullish updates.

That silence stands in stark contrast to the tone surrounding other tech names, many of which have seen multiple firms hike price targets or shift ratings more aggressively in the past fortnight alone. The most bullish recent notes on Qualcomm came from Susquehanna and Benchmark, but even those were issued weeks ago and obviously haven’t impacted broader sentiment all that much.

A fresh Buy rating, with a juicy price target, from a top-tier firm could be the spark needed to reset the narrative. Even better would be a cluster of updates pointing to improving confidence in the company’s AI potential, leadership, or market position. These are well-known strengths for Qualcomm, but they have been underweighted in the conversation lately.

Why Qualcomm Still Deserves Attention

It’s easy to get impatient with Qualcomm. The stock has failed to hold gains, the analyst community is comparatively quiet on it, and broader interest continues to flow to other names in the chip space. But this same frustration is what makes the next move potentially more powerful.

For the more cautious investor out there, having a good reason to get involved in any stock like this is key, and hopefully, these three signals will be a good starting point.