QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $195.00 to $185.00. The stock had previously closed at $148.89, but opened at $132.92. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. QUALCOMM shares last traded at $135.4950, with a volume of 10,560,051 shares.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $185.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $177.00 price objective on QUALCOMM in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho decreased their target price on QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of QUALCOMM in a report on Monday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QUALCOMM news, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 10,000 shares of QUALCOMM stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.12, for a total transaction of $1,751,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,845,901.36. The trade was a 18.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alexander H. Rogers sold 15,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.01, for a total value of $2,833,385.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 26,071 shares in the company, valued at $4,640,898.71. This represents a 37.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,684 shares of company stock worth $7,004,088. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

More QUALCOMM News

Here are the key news stories impacting QUALCOMM this week:

• Positive Sentiment: QCOM beat on the quarter — adjusted EPS of $3.50 and strong revenue (record automotive/handset contribution) showed the company can still print solid results despite industry headwinds. Zacks: Qualcomm Surpasses Q1 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Some firms remain constructive — a few analysts still have buy/overweight views and multi-quarter bull cases that point to upside if handset memory constraints ease. Benzinga: Analyst Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Management frames the problem as a memory supply constraint rather than weak end-demand — CEO Cristiano Amon said handset demand isn’t the core issue, which matters for how durable the slowdown may be. Bloomberg Tech Interview (YouTube)
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary highlights that QCOM’s selloff has pushed the stock back to 2020 price levels — that raises long-term questions but also creates short-term relief-rally potential for traders. MarketBeat: Qualcomm Is Back at 2020 Levels
• Negative Sentiment: Q2 guidance came in below consensus — EPS and revenue ranges were trimmed because memory shortages are expected to constrain smartphone build plans, directly pressuring Qualcomm’s handset-related revenue. That guidance drove the bulk of the selloff. Reuters: Memory Shortage Hits Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts have reacted with price-target cuts and tone shifts (Evercore, Mizuho, Bank of America and others), and several firms moved to neutral/in-line ratings — increasing near-term selling pressure. Benzinga: Analysts Lower Forecasts
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction has been severe — heavy volume and a double-digit intraday move reflect headline-driven risk: strong quarter but weak forward outlook. Short-term volatility is likely to continue until memory supply visibility improves. CNBC: Qualcomm Stock Sinks on Memory Warning

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 11.6% in the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 55,410 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $8,824,000 after purchasing an additional 5,779 shares in the last quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 18.6% in the second quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 22,474 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $3,579,000 after buying an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of QUALCOMM during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,539,000. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH acquired a new position in shares of QUALCOMM during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,896,000. Finally, Inscription Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 58.1% in the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 13,055 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 4,799 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

QUALCOMM Trading Down 8.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $145.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $167.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.06.

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The wireless technology company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.12. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 43.08% and a net margin of 11.96%.The company had revenue of $12.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. QUALCOMM has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.450-2.650 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that QUALCOMM Incorporated will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is currently 72.80%.

QUALCOMM Company Profile

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.