Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Updates Q4 2026 Earnings Guidance

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) updated its fourth quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 2.050-2.250 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 2.230. The company issued revenue guidance of $9.7 billion-$10.5 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $10.0 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on QCOM shares. Evercore set a $179.00 price target on Qualcomm in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim set a $200.00 price objective on Qualcomm in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Oppenheimer set a $200.00 target price on Qualcomm in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank upgraded Qualcomm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.77.

Qualcomm Trading Down 4.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:QCOM traded down $7.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $155.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,670,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,549,586. The firm has a market cap of $164.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $202.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.13. Qualcomm has a 1 year low of $121.99 and a 1 year high of $259.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.01). Qualcomm had a return on equity of 42.11% and a net margin of 22.31%.The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.69 billion. Qualcomm has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Qualcomm will post 7.97 EPS for the current year.

Qualcomm Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Qualcomm’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualcomm

In other news, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total value of $569,024.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,065,677.70. This trade represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total transaction of $167,267.33. 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 21,721 shares of company stock valued at $4,044,465. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Qualcomm News

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm was named BMW Group’s lead compute-silicon provider for digital cockpits and advanced driver-assistance and automated-driving systems through the next decade. The agreement expands the potential for recurring automotive revenue through Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Digital Chassis portfolio. Qualcomm wins BMW chip supply deal
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm completed its all-stock acquisition of Modular, an AI-software company. Modular’s platform is intended to help developers deploy generative and agentic AI across different computing systems, strengthening Qualcomm’s push from edge devices into data-center and broader AI infrastructure markets. Qualcomm completes Modular acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights expanded Samsung cooperation, AI initiatives and continued automotive growth as potential catalysts that could reduce Qualcomm’s reliance on smartphones. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.92 per share. Qualcomm Samsung expansion and AI deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Qualcomm is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter results after the market close. Options markets imply an unusually large post-earnings move of roughly 9%, reflecting significant uncertainty around guidance, smartphone demand and the pace of AI-related growth. Qualcomm stock could swing 9 percent
• Negative Sentiment: The stock has fallen sharply from its yearly high and is testing technical support ahead of earnings. Investors remain concerned that handset revenue declined 13% in the prior quarter, while the company’s AI and data-center expansion has yet to fully offset smartphone-related weakness. Qualcomm is down from its high
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market caution is adding pressure, with investors awaiting a Federal Reserve decision and monitoring turbulence in the memory-chip market. These macro concerns may make investors less willing to bid up semiconductor shares before Qualcomm provides its outlook.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 worth $2,861,301,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290,622 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP grew its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 120.1% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,152,866 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $502,125,000 after buying an additional 1,720,529 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 59.1% in the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 4,418,406 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $703,675,000 after buying an additional 1,641,068 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 12,671,635 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,136,486,000 after buying an additional 1,138,541 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,463,461 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,276,722,000 after buying an additional 911,034 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.