Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 1.1% – Should You Buy?

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s share price shot up 1.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $166.77 and last traded at $164.79. Approximately 7,678,186 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 16,190,739 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.07.

Key Headlines Impacting Qualcomm

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm’s neural-processing-unit (NPU) strategy could benefit from growing demand for on-device AI in smartphones, PCs and other edge devices. Investors view this as a potential catalyst for a broader hardware upgrade cycle and a way to reduce the company’s dependence on traditional handset sales. Forget the Cloud: Qualcomm’s NPU Play May Trigger a Hardware Supercycle
• Positive Sentiment: Another market assessment suggests Qualcomm could be undervalued if growth in automotive, IoT and AI-related products offsets slower smartphone demand. This reinforces the long-term turnaround narrative. Prediction: This Chipmaker Could Be a Bigger Winner Than Investors Think
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.92 per share, or $3.68 annualized, representing a yield of approximately 2.3%. The payout provides income support while investors wait for growth to reaccelerate.
• Neutral Sentiment: Semiconductor ETF inflows remain strong, potentially supporting chip-sector valuations, but Fidelity warned that the semiconductor cycle may be nearing a peak. The conflicting signals suggest continued sector momentum alongside elevated cyclical risk. Semiconductor Flows Stay Sticky in Leveraged Chip ETFs
• Negative Sentiment: Qualcomm’s latest quarterly EPS of $2.21 slightly missed estimates, while revenue declined 4% year over year and EPS fell from $2.77 in the prior-year quarter. Although management indicated the handset downturn may be near a bottom, the results continue to weigh on near-term sentiment.
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group lowered its FY2026 EPS forecast to $7.71 from $7.91 and its FY2027 estimate to $7.46 from $7.90, signaling reduced expectations for profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: Executive Vice President Akash Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares for approximately $408,000. The transaction was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its importance, but it may still be viewed as a modest negative signal. Qualcomm EVP Akash Palkhiwala Sells 2,500 Shares

Analyst Ratings Changes

QCOM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Qualcomm from $200.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Qualcomm from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Evercore set a $159.00 price objective on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Qualcomm from $250.00 to $160.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $203.63.

Qualcomm Stock Up 1.1%

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.69 billion. Qualcomm had a net margin of 21.01% and a return on equity of 38.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Qualcomm Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Qualcomm’s payout ratio is 42.59%.

Insider Activity at Qualcomm

In other Qualcomm news, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total transaction of $167,267.33. The sale was disclosed in a 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, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $408,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,376,869.84. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 11,529 shares of company stock worth $1,991,345 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualcomm

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Qualcomm during the second quarter worth $17,583,115,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Qualcomm in the fourth quarter valued at $2,591,056,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Qualcomm in the second quarter valued at $1,523,930,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Qualcomm during the second quarter valued at about $1,178,349,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 34.5% during the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

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.