Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Receives “Market Perform” Rating from Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein restated their market perform rating on shares of Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) in a report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has a $140.00 price objective on the wireless technology company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $175.00.

Several other research firms also recently commented on QCOM. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $177.00 target price on Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Qualcomm from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.14.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

QCOM opened at $130.54 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $139.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.97 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $141.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.49. Qualcomm has a 52-week low of $120.80 and a 52-week high of $205.95.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The wireless technology company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.38 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.16 billion. Qualcomm had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 44.09%. Qualcomm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.41 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.450-2.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Qualcomm will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Qualcomm Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Qualcomm’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.55%.

Qualcomm declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 17th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the wireless technology company to reacquire up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualcomm news, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.00, for a total transaction of $438,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,245,841. This trade represents a 16.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 3,333 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.65, for a total value of $458,787.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,900,202.35. The trade was a 8.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,866 shares of company stock valued at $1,474,796 over the last 90 days. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualcomm

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Qualcomm by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,144,068 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $19,524,350,000 after acquiring an additional 647,076 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Qualcomm by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 53,667,047 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $8,547,014,000 after purchasing an additional 420,352 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $4,931,968,000 after purchasing an additional 3,221,924 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Qualcomm during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,713,603,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,727,862 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,861,301,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290,622 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Qualcomm News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm announced a $20 billion share buyback and raised its dividend, which supports EPS per-share metrics and signals confidence from management. That headline provides immediate buyback-driven support for the stock. Fool Article
• Positive Sentiment: Product upside: coverage highlights Qualcomm’s push into AI-enabled smart cameras and IoT silicon — a revenue growth vector if adoption scales in security and edge‑AI markets. This is a longer‑horizon positive for revenue diversification. Zacks Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation note: analysts and writeups are re‑examining QCOM after recent weakness (shares down sharply over recent months), noting mixed trailing performance but continued revenue and net income growth; valuation context may keep volatility elevated. Yahoo Finance Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Index/rating technicals: discussion that rating shifts reflect Nasdaq‑100 composition may pressure index‑sensitive flows; this is more mechanical than fundamental. Kalkine Media Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Miscellaneous coverage and surveys mention QCOM alongside peer items; not market-moving by itself but adds to media attention. American Banking News
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade: Sanford C. Bernstein cut QCOM to “market perform” from “outperform” and trimmed the price target to $140 from $175 (multiple outlets reported this). The downgrade and target cut are driving near‑term selling pressure and reduce upside implied by analyst consensus. MSN Article Schaeffers Article Benzinga

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.