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With a market cap of $172.4 billion, QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) is a global leader in wireless technology development and commercialization. The company operates through three main segments: Qualcomm CDMA Technologies; Qualcomm Technology Licensing; and Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives.
Companies valued at $10 billion or more are generally classified as “large-cap” stocks, and Qualcomm fits this criterion perfectly. Qualcomm’s flagship brands include Snapdragon chipsets, FastConnect wireless systems, and Qualcomm-branded cellular and IoT solutions, with a current strategic focus on integrating on-device generative AI across its product lines.
Shares of the San Diego, California-based company have declined 36.8% from its 52-week high of $259.92. The stock has dropped 32.5% over the past three months, lagging behind the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF's (XSD) 23.6% dip during the same period.
In the longer term, the chipmaker stock has risen 2.1% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming XSD's 64.3% increase over the same period. Moreover, QCOM's shares have decreased 4% on a YTD basis, compared to XSD's 49.8% surge.
The stock has been trading below its 50-day moving average since late June. It has also fallen below its 200-day moving average since late July.
QUALCOMM shares fell 2.6% following its Q3 2026 results on Jul. 29. The company forecast Q4 adjusted EPS of $2.05 - $2.25, below analysts’ estimate, amid rising memory, wafer, packaging and testing costs that pressured margins. Investors were also concerned that Qualcomm’s iPhone modem share will be materially below the previously expected 20%, implying a faster-than-expected decline in its Apple-related revenue.
Although Qualcomm expects non-handset revenue growth to accelerate to more than 60% in fiscal 2027 from 24% in fiscal 2026, analysts warned that new data-center programs initially carry lower margins.
In comparison, rival NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) has outperformed QCOM stock. NVDA stock has gained 16.7% on a YTD basis and 20.8% over the past 52 weeks.
Despite QUALCOMM's weak performance, analysts are moderately optimistic about the stock's prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the 33 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $197.62 is a premium of 20.4% to current levels.
