Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 1.4% – Should You Buy?

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s share price traded up 1.4% on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $180.78 and last traded at $176.86. Approximately 11,614,908 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 15,318,946 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.43.

Trending Headlines about Qualcomm

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A Delaware jury found that Arm breached its license agreement with Qualcomm. Although the damages award was only $2 and therefore has little direct financial impact, the decision may reduce legal uncertainty surrounding Qualcomm’s chip designs and licensing rights. Qualcomm said it was “gratified” by the verdict. Delaware jury awards Qualcomm $2 in damages, finds Arm breached license agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm’s growth narrative is expanding beyond handsets. The company recently added Amazon as a long-term cloud chip customer, while its work on AI-enabled networks, Giga-MIMO and 6G sensing with industry partners could create future opportunities in infrastructure and connected devices. Qualcomm has Amazon now. Why is it still priced like a phone stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains mixed. Baird reportedly set a $400 price target, but broader sell-side coverage currently rates Qualcomm “Hold,” suggesting investors see upside from diversification but remain cautious about execution and handset exposure. Qualcomm stock rated Hold by sell-side brokerages
• Negative Sentiment: Phone chips remain Qualcomm’s largest business, generating about $5.1 billion, or more than half of quarterly revenue. Handset revenue is vulnerable to slower smartphone demand and customer concentration; total quarterly revenue recently fell 4% year over year, while earnings narrowly missed consensus estimates. How much of Qualcomm stock rides on one business?
• Negative Sentiment: A broader pullback in semiconductor equipment stocks after a strong AI-driven run reflects profit-taking and could weigh on chip-sector sentiment, even though Qualcomm is not directly exposed to the same equipment names. Semiconductor equipment stocks slide as investors take profits

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Qualcomm from $231.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Craig Hallum lowered Qualcomm from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Qualcomm from $198.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Qualcomm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.10.

Qualcomm Trading Up 1.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $188.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $173.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.40.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.69 billion. Qualcomm had a net margin of 21.01% and a return on equity of 38.36%. Qualcomm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. Research analysts predict that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Heather Ace sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.04, for a total value of $470,528.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 36,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,372,106.40. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Cristiano Amon sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 177,568 shares in the company, valued at $35,513,600. This trade represents a 5.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 29,131 shares of company stock valued at $5,441,226 over the last ninety days. 0.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Qualcomm by 17,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 171 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Qualcomm in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new position in shares of Qualcomm during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new position in shares of Qualcomm during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Burk Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 191.7% during the second quarter. Burk Holdings LLC now owns 210 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a technology company headquartered in San Diego, California, that develops wireless communications technologies, semiconductors and related software. Its products support mobile devices, connected computing, automotive systems, industrial equipment and consumer electronics.

Qualcomm’s semiconductor business operates primarily through its Qualcomm CDMA Technologies segment. Its offerings include Snapdragon platforms and systems-on-chip, cellular modems, radio-frequency components, connectivity products, and processors for smartphones, personal computers, extended-reality devices, vehicles and the Internet of Things.