Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Shares Up 3.5% – Should You Buy?

Posted by Brenda Bartman on May 20th, 2026

Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM – Get Free Report) shot up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $203.59 and last traded at $202.51. 18,792,898 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 24% from the average session volume of 15,200,900 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on QCOM. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Evercore set a $179.00 price objective on Qualcomm in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Loop Capital upgraded Qualcomm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Qualcomm from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded Qualcomm from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.79.

View Our Latest Stock Report on QCOM

Qualcomm Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $149.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $157.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 25.22 and a beta of 1.49.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.59 billion. Qualcomm had a return on equity of 42.11% and a net margin of 22.31%.The company’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.85 earnings per share. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.99 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a positive change from Qualcomm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Qualcomm’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.70%.

Qualcomm announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 17th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the wireless technology company to purchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Qualcomm news, EVP Heather S. Ace sold 3,200 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.82, for a total transaction of $569,024.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,065,677.70. The trade was a 7.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 10,000 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $1,800,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 197,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,562,240. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,477 shares of company stock valued at $3,268,316 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Qualcomm

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC increased its position in Qualcomm by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Basepoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,333 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its position in Qualcomm by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 4,126 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp increased its position in Qualcomm by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 10,085 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC increased its position in Qualcomm by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Qualcomm by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,401 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Qualcomm

(Get Free Report)

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.