QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Down 8.5% After Analyst Downgrade

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s share price traded down 8.5% on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $195.00 to $185.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. QUALCOMM traded as low as $132.73 and last traded at $136.30. 30,172,552 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 182% from the average session volume of 10,708,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.89.

QCOM has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird set a $177.00 price objective on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research cut QUALCOMM from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on QUALCOMM from $157.00 to $134.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on QUALCOMM from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Alexander H. Rogers sold 15,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.01, for a total transaction of $2,833,385.17. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,640,898.71. The trade was a 37.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ann C. Chaplin sold 7,180 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.03, for a total value of $1,278,255.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,944 shares in the company, valued at $4,262,750.32. This represents a 23.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,820 shares of company stock valued at $7,883,482. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting QUALCOMM this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — EPS and revenue topped consensus, driven by record automotive and handset revenue and strength in IoT. Qualcomm Surpasses Q1 Earnings Estimates on Record Revenues
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Cristiano Amon told Bloomberg that the primary issue for handsets is memory availability rather than end-demand — a clarification that frames the problem as supply-constrained (not demand collapse). Qualcomm CEO: Issue for Handsets Is Memory, Not Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains mixed — brokerages give an average “Hold” rating, reflecting split views on near-term headwinds versus longer-term diversification into auto, AI/edge and licensing. QUALCOMM Given Average Recommendation of Hold
• Negative Sentiment: Management issued Q2 guidance below Street estimates — EPS guide of $2.45–$2.65 vs. consensus ~2.66 and revenue guide $10.2B–$11.0B vs. ~$11.1B — explicitly blaming a global memory shortage that will limit handset builds and Qualcomm chipset shipments. Qualcomm, Arm bear brunt of memory shortage
• Negative Sentiment: Investor reaction and analyst moves: the stock declined sharply after hours/into Thursday and several firms cut price targets or downgraded ratings (Evercore lowered its PT to $134 and put an “in‑line” rating; other shops trimmed targets or turned neutral). Qualcomm price target lowered by Evercore ISI
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage and headlines warned of a broader memory crunch hitting smartphone supply chains — press pieces (CNBC, WSJ, Barron’s) linked Qualcomm’s outlook to sector-wide weakness, amplifying selling pressure. Qualcomm stock sinks as company issues dire warning on memory shortage

Institutional Trading of QUALCOMM

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the second quarter worth about $2,713,603,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in QUALCOMM by 141.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,437,240 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $2,069,059,000 after buying an additional 7,292,783 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in QUALCOMM by 38.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 11,533,094 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,866,451,000 after buying an additional 3,186,524 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 36.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,552,427 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,090,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,764,252 shares during the period. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP increased its holdings in shares of QUALCOMM by 120.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,720,529 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.82. The stock has a market cap of $145.58 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $168.32 and its 200 day moving average is $165.27.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The wireless technology company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.16 billion. QUALCOMM had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 43.22%. QUALCOMM’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.41 EPS. QUALCOMM has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.450-2.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. QUALCOMM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.80%.

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.