Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Down 3.9% – Here’s What Happened

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares fell 3.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $191.02 and last traded at $196.1140. Approximately 23,529,853 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 42% from the average session volume of 16,621,422 shares. The stock had previously closed at $204.13.

Key Stories Impacting Qualcomm

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm agreed to buy AI software startup Modular for about $3.9 billion, a deal aimed at improving AI performance, broadening its software capabilities, and reducing reliance on smartphones. Reuters: Qualcomm to buy AI startup Modular
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm is reportedly in talks to provide custom chip-design services to ByteDance, which could create another non-smartphone growth avenue if finalized. Reuters: Qualcomm in talks with ByteDance
• Neutral Sentiment: Qualcomm’s Investor Day is expected to focus on its push into AI data center chips, but analysts note it is a late entrant in a very crowded AI market, which may limit enthusiasm. Reuters: Qualcomm bets on AI chips
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary suggests Qualcomm’s AI pivot could be attractive over time, but some analysts remain cautious heading into the company’s AI presentation. Benzinga: Analyst cautious on Qualcomm
• Negative Sentiment: The stock has also been pressured by broader tech selling and worries that Qualcomm’s AI ambitions may take time to translate into meaningful revenue, creating execution risk. Invezz: Qualcomm eyes Modular AI deal as stock falls

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on QCOM. Melius Research set a $220.00 price target on Qualcomm in a report on Monday, May 18th. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Qualcomm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Qualcomm from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Qualcomm from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Craig Hallum raised shares of Qualcomm to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Qualcomm has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.90.

Qualcomm Stock Down 3.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.32. The firm has a market cap of $206.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 1.59.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.59 billion. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 42.11% and a net margin of 22.31%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.85 EPS. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Qualcomm Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Qualcomm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Qualcomm’s payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Qualcomm declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 17th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the wireless technology company to repurchase up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Qualcomm

In other news, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 10,000 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $1,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 197,568 shares in the company, valued at $35,562,240. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Akash J. Palkhiwala sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.35, for a total transaction of $493,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,684 shares in the company, valued at $5,068,737.40. The trade was a 8.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,806 shares of company stock worth $3,928,958. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualcomm

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QCOM. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,975,238 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $383,151,000 after buying an additional 589,717 shares during the period. Southern Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Qualcomm by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Southern Financial Group LLC now owns 2,596 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in Qualcomm by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 29,713 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $3,826,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the period. Chelsea Counsel Co. boosted its holdings in Qualcomm by 12.0% in the first quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 6,518 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Qualcomm by 17.3% in the first quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust now owns 712 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.