Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $265.00. The stock had previously closed at $197.41, but opened at $219.43. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Qualcomm shares last traded at $206.3420, with a volume of 8,103,083 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Argus set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Oppenheimer cut Qualcomm from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $220.00 price target on Qualcomm and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Qualcomm from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $231.00 price objective on Qualcomm and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Qualcomm currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $206.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualcomm

In related news, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total value of $167,267.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total value of $569,024.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,735 shares in the company, valued at $7,065,677.70. The trade was a 7.45% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,806 shares of company stock valued at $3,928,958. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Qualcomm

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm raised its long-term non-handset revenue target sharply and laid out a data center AI roadmap, signaling a bigger and faster diversification push beyond mobile chips. Qualcomm Accelerates Diversification with Comprehensive Strategy for Data Center and Sees Multiple Inflection Points Over the Next 3 to 5 Years
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced a strategic multi-generation CPU agreement with Meta, giving investors a high-profile validation of its data center ambitions. Qualcomm and Meta Announce Strategic Multi-Generation Agreement on Data Center CPUs
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm also unveiled a broader “Dragonfly” data center portfolio and new AI infrastructure products, reinforcing expectations that it can compete in the fast-growing agentic AI market. Qualcomm Unveils Comprehensive Data Center Roadmap for the Agentic AI Era with New Qualcomm Dragonfly Portfolio
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Qualcomm is in talks to provide chip-design services to ByteDance added to the view that it can expand into new custom silicon and design services markets. Qualcomm in talks to provide custom chip-design services to ByteDance, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Reuters reported that Qualcomm’s stronger forecasts helped fuel a broad AI-chip rally, with investors encouraged by signs of renewed demand and improved growth visibility. Micron and Qualcomm forecasts ignite $400 billion AI chip stock rally

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualcomm

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new stake in Qualcomm in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 168 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualcomm in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 17,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 171 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Qualcomm in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Qualcomm Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 25.36 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50 day moving average is $198.52 and its 200-day moving average is $167.48.

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

Qualcomm Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th 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 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This is a boost from Qualcomm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Qualcomm’s payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Qualcomm announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 17th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the wireless technology company to buy up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.