Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Stock Falls 2.4% – Here’s What Happened

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares traded down 2.4% on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $171.02 and last traded at $172.62. 11,124,148 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 15,301,109 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.86.

Key Headlines Impacting Qualcomm

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A Delaware federal jury found that Arm Holdings breached its licensing agreement with Qualcomm and confirmed Qualcomm’s right to continue developing custom Oryon CPUs. The ruling strengthens Qualcomm’s strategic flexibility as Arm changes its business model, although the company received only nominal damages. How Qualcomm’s Legal Win Over Arm Could Reshape the Long-Term Thesis for QCOM Investors
• Positive Sentiment: The court decision reduces a major legal risk tied to Qualcomm’s CPU roadmap and its relationship with Meta Platforms, potentially supporting longer-term growth in PCs, automotive systems and other markets beyond smartphones. Qualcomm, Arm weigh in after jury finds Arm breached license agreement
• Neutral Sentiment: Qualcomm’s recent earnings showed revenue of about $9.95 billion, above expectations, but earnings per share slightly missed estimates and revenue declined 4% year over year. The company’s upcoming December quarter is viewed as an important test of whether new AI and data-center initiatives can offset handset weakness.
• Neutral Sentiment: Qualcomm remains heavily dependent on smartphones: handset chips generated approximately $5.1 billion, or more than half of quarterly revenue. Investors are therefore focused on phone-chip volumes, customer demand and the pace of diversification into automotive, IoT and computing. How Much Of Qualcomm Stock Rides On One Business?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors appear unconvinced by Qualcomm’s “AI” repositioning, viewing the company as caught between a declining or pressured smartphone business and unproven growth in AI and data-center chips. This skepticism is weighing on the broader investment narrative. Qualcomm at $175: The Narrative Shift Sending Capital Out The Door
• Negative Sentiment: Several brokerages rate Qualcomm “Hold,” reflecting concerns that its valuation requires successful execution in newer markets while its core handset exposure remains substantial. Shares are also trading below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, signaling weak near-term momentum.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QCOM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Qualcomm from $200.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Qualcomm from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Qualcomm to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Qualcomm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.10.

Qualcomm Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $184.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.65. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.72.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 38.36% and a net margin of 21.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.77 earnings per share. Qualcomm has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualcomm

In other Qualcomm news, CAO Patricia Grech sold 208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $35,360.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $2,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 177,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,513,600. The trade was a 5.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,131 shares of company stock worth $5,441,226. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualcomm

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Qualcomm in the second quarter valued at approximately $17,583,115,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 52,763,263 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $9,750,123,000 after buying an additional 671,537 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,202,619 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $3,178,872,000 after purchasing an additional 3,179,720 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,645,603 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,163,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,771,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Qualcomm by 94.1% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 10,195,741 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,884,071,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,908 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.