Qualcomm Stock Surges Following Intel's Earnings Report
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 5 days ago
0mins
Should l Buy QCOM?
Source: Yahoo Finance
- Stock Rebound: Qualcomm (QCOM) shares surged approximately 11% on Friday, rebounding from $133.95 to $148.28, although still down about 13% year-to-date, indicating market optimism for a semiconductor sector recovery.
- Sector Catalyst: Intel (INTC) reported blowout Q1 2026 earnings that exceeded expectations, leading to a 25% increase in its stock price and triggering a rally across the semiconductor sector, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index crossing 10,000 for the first time.
- Market Challenges: Despite the stock rebound, Qualcomm faces threats from Apple's own C1 modem, a sluggish Chinese smartphone market, and pressures on edge AI compute demand, resulting in a 5% year-over-year revenue increase to $12.25 billion in Q1 FY26, while net income fell by 6%.
- Future Outlook: Qualcomm's management projects Q2 FY26 revenue between $10.2 billion and $11 billion, reflecting the impact of industry-wide memory supply constraints on handset demand, raising investor concerns about the potential effects of Apple's modem developments.
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Analyst Views on QCOM
Wall Street analysts forecast QCOM stock price to rise
16 Analyst Rating
10 Buy
5 Hold
1 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 156.000
Low
165.00
Averages
197.14
High
225.00
Current: 156.000
Low
165.00
Averages
197.14
High
225.00
About QCOM
Qualcomm Incorporated is engaged in the development and commercialization of foundational technologies for the wireless industry, including third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G) and fifth generation (5G) wireless connectivity, and high-performance and low-power computing, including on-device artificial intelligence. Its segments include Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT), Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL) and Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives. QCT develops and supplies integrated circuits and system software based on 3G/4G/5G and other technologies, including radio frequency front-end, digital cockpit and advanced driver assistance and automated driving, Internet of things including consumer electronic devices, industrial devices and edge networking products. QTL grants licenses or otherwise provides rights to use portions of its intellectual property portfolio that includes certain patent rights essential to and/or useful in the manufacture and sale of certain wireless products.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
Qualcomm Enters Lucrative Data Center Market
- New Market Opportunity: Qualcomm announced its entry into the data center market with an order from a major cloud company, resulting in a 12% stock price increase in premarket trading, indicating positive market sentiment towards its new business direction.
- Muted Financial Performance: Despite a 3% year-over-year revenue increase to $10.6 billion, slightly above analyst expectations, smartphone chip sales fell by 13%, while automotive chip sales rose by 38%, highlighting a shift in business structure.
- Future Outlook: Qualcomm expects third-quarter revenue between $9.2 billion and $10 billion, missing market expectations of $10.19 billion, with adjusted earnings per share also falling short of forecasts, reflecting short-term challenges ahead.
- Investor Sentiment Rebounds: On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Qualcomm shifted to the 'extremely bullish' zone, with investors optimistic about its potential in AI, believing its chips will find widespread application across various industries.
See More
Qualcomm Shares Surge 8% on Custom Silicon Shipping Plans
- Custom Silicon Initiative: Qualcomm plans to start shipping custom silicon to a major hyperscaler in Q4 2026, which has led to an over 8% surge in its stock despite weak Q2 results and a disappointing Q3 outlook, indicating investor optimism about the new strategy.
- Positive Market Reaction: Analysts noted that management's commentary suggesting Q3 could represent the bottom for China handset revenues has bolstered investor confidence, anticipating improved performance, particularly with the upcoming custom silicon deliveries.
- Price Target Increase: RBC analysts raised Qualcomm's price target from $150 to $175, highlighting the company's core expertise in low-power CPU/NPU design, which has been strengthened by the recent acquisition of networking IP vendor AlphaWave, enhancing its technological capabilities.
- Cautious Industry Outlook: While Qualcomm shows visibility into stabilizing handset revenues, J.P. Morgan maintains a Neutral rating and raises its price target to $160, pointing out that the smartphone industry still faces pressures from memory shortages and rising prices, which could impact overall market performance.
See More
Strong Earnings Reports from Top Tech Giants
- Alphabet's Strong Performance: Alphabet's earnings report exceeded expectations with strong performance in search, subscriptions, and cloud services, leading to an 8% stock increase and reflecting significant returns on AI investments, boosting market confidence.
- Amazon's AWS Growth: AWS growth accelerated to 28%, with strong performance in advertising and e-commerce, resulting in a stock increase of over 3.5%, while maintaining a full-year capital expenditure of $200 billion, indicating confidence in future growth.
- Microsoft's Cloud Stability: Microsoft reported a 40% growth in cloud services, and despite a stock drop of over 1%, analysts raised price targets, suggesting optimism about its long-term prospects, alongside an increase in capital expenditures.
- Meta's Stock Decline: Meta Platforms saw its stock drop over 8.5% due to an increased capital expenditure forecast, despite solid quarterly results; however, a 5% decline in daily active users raised concerns about its growth outlook.
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Wall Street's Latest Rating Upgrades Summary
- Equinix Upgrade: Raymond James upgraded Equinix from Market Perform to Strong Buy, citing a robust recovery driven by AI-based demand after last year's adjustments, indicating a strong market rebound potential for the company.
- SiteOne's Positive Outlook: Deutsche Bank upgraded SiteOne from Hold to Buy, anticipating a guidance beat with a price target of $160, implying a 32% upside, reflecting market recognition of its attractive low valuation.
- Mistras Initiation: Roth Capital initiated coverage on Mistras with a Buy rating and a $22 target, highlighting significant improvements in operational efficiency that have driven margin expansion and free cash flow conversion, showcasing strong growth potential.
- Nutrien Upgrade: Bank of America upgraded Nutrien from Neutral to Buy, viewing the agricultural market's outlook as increasingly bullish, positioning Nutrien as a best-in-class operator with sustained growth capabilities.
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Significant Premarket Trading Moves by Multiple Companies
- Meta's CapEx Increase: Meta Platforms raised its full-year capital expenditure guidance to between $125 billion and $145 billion, causing a 9% drop in stock price due to heightened concerns over AI spending, which negatively impacts investor confidence.
- Eli Lilly's Strong Performance: Eli Lilly's first-quarter earnings and revenue exceeded analyst expectations, leading to an almost 8% stock increase, while the company raised its full-year sales outlook to between $82 billion and $85 billion, indicating robust market demand.
- Alphabet's Impressive Earnings: Alphabet reported first-quarter revenue of $109.9 billion, surpassing the $107.2 billion expected by analysts, resulting in a 7.4% stock increase, with Google Cloud revenue soaring 63% year-over-year, showcasing strong growth potential in its cloud business.
- Royal Caribbean's Solid Results: Royal Caribbean's first-quarter adjusted earnings came in at $3.60 per share, exceeding the $3.20 expected by analysts, and despite slightly missing revenue expectations, the stock rose 7%, reflecting market confidence in its financial health.
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Qualcomm Shares Surge 10.3% on CEO's Optimism for Recovery
- Stock Surge: Qualcomm (QCOM.O) shares jumped 10.3% before the bell on Thursday, reflecting investor optimism following CEO Cristiano Amon's comments about a recovery in the smartphone business, despite a weak third-quarter forecast.
- Market Recovery Confidence: Amon expressed confidence that the smartphone market will begin to rebound after the fiscal third quarter during a Reuters interview, which may attract more investor interest in Qualcomm's future performance.
- Diversification Strategy: Qualcomm is actively working to reduce its dependence on the cyclical handset market by expanding into high-growth areas such as data center processors and autonomous vehicle chips, in response to uncertainty among smartphone manufacturers, particularly due to rising memory chip prices.
- Analyst Divergence: While the stock rose on investor optimism, some analysts expressed skepticism about Amon's remarks, suggesting that the smartphone industry still faces pressures from memory shortages and price increases, which could impact future revenue stability.
See More
Qualcomm Enters Lucrative Data Center Market
- New Market Opportunity: Qualcomm announced its entry into the data center market with an order from a major cloud company, resulting in a 12% stock price increase in premarket trading, indicating positive market sentiment towards its new business direction.
- Muted Financial Performance: Despite a 3% year-over-year revenue increase to $10.6 billion, slightly above analyst expectations, smartphone chip sales fell by 13%, while automotive chip sales rose by 38%, highlighting a shift in business structure.
- Future Outlook: Qualcomm expects third-quarter revenue between $9.2 billion and $10 billion, missing market expectations of $10.19 billion, with adjusted earnings per share also falling short of forecasts, reflecting short-term challenges ahead.
- Investor Sentiment Rebounds: On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Qualcomm shifted to the 'extremely bullish' zone, with investors optimistic about its potential in AI, believing its chips will find widespread application across various industries.
See More
Qualcomm Shares Surge 8% on Custom Silicon Shipping Plans
- Custom Silicon Initiative: Qualcomm plans to start shipping custom silicon to a major hyperscaler in Q4 2026, which has led to an over 8% surge in its stock despite weak Q2 results and a disappointing Q3 outlook, indicating investor optimism about the new strategy.
- Positive Market Reaction: Analysts noted that management's commentary suggesting Q3 could represent the bottom for China handset revenues has bolstered investor confidence, anticipating improved performance, particularly with the upcoming custom silicon deliveries.
- Price Target Increase: RBC analysts raised Qualcomm's price target from $150 to $175, highlighting the company's core expertise in low-power CPU/NPU design, which has been strengthened by the recent acquisition of networking IP vendor AlphaWave, enhancing its technological capabilities.
- Cautious Industry Outlook: While Qualcomm shows visibility into stabilizing handset revenues, J.P. Morgan maintains a Neutral rating and raises its price target to $160, pointing out that the smartphone industry still faces pressures from memory shortages and rising prices, which could impact overall market performance.
See More
Strong Earnings Reports from Top Tech Giants
- Alphabet's Strong Performance: Alphabet's earnings report exceeded expectations with strong performance in search, subscriptions, and cloud services, leading to an 8% stock increase and reflecting significant returns on AI investments, boosting market confidence.
- Amazon's AWS Growth: AWS growth accelerated to 28%, with strong performance in advertising and e-commerce, resulting in a stock increase of over 3.5%, while maintaining a full-year capital expenditure of $200 billion, indicating confidence in future growth.
- Microsoft's Cloud Stability: Microsoft reported a 40% growth in cloud services, and despite a stock drop of over 1%, analysts raised price targets, suggesting optimism about its long-term prospects, alongside an increase in capital expenditures.
- Meta's Stock Decline: Meta Platforms saw its stock drop over 8.5% due to an increased capital expenditure forecast, despite solid quarterly results; however, a 5% decline in daily active users raised concerns about its growth outlook.
See More
Wall Street's Latest Rating Upgrades Summary
- Equinix Upgrade: Raymond James upgraded Equinix from Market Perform to Strong Buy, citing a robust recovery driven by AI-based demand after last year's adjustments, indicating a strong market rebound potential for the company.
- SiteOne's Positive Outlook: Deutsche Bank upgraded SiteOne from Hold to Buy, anticipating a guidance beat with a price target of $160, implying a 32% upside, reflecting market recognition of its attractive low valuation.
- Mistras Initiation: Roth Capital initiated coverage on Mistras with a Buy rating and a $22 target, highlighting significant improvements in operational efficiency that have driven margin expansion and free cash flow conversion, showcasing strong growth potential.
- Nutrien Upgrade: Bank of America upgraded Nutrien from Neutral to Buy, viewing the agricultural market's outlook as increasingly bullish, positioning Nutrien as a best-in-class operator with sustained growth capabilities.
See More
Significant Premarket Trading Moves by Multiple Companies
- Meta's CapEx Increase: Meta Platforms raised its full-year capital expenditure guidance to between $125 billion and $145 billion, causing a 9% drop in stock price due to heightened concerns over AI spending, which negatively impacts investor confidence.
- Eli Lilly's Strong Performance: Eli Lilly's first-quarter earnings and revenue exceeded analyst expectations, leading to an almost 8% stock increase, while the company raised its full-year sales outlook to between $82 billion and $85 billion, indicating robust market demand.
- Alphabet's Impressive Earnings: Alphabet reported first-quarter revenue of $109.9 billion, surpassing the $107.2 billion expected by analysts, resulting in a 7.4% stock increase, with Google Cloud revenue soaring 63% year-over-year, showcasing strong growth potential in its cloud business.
- Royal Caribbean's Solid Results: Royal Caribbean's first-quarter adjusted earnings came in at $3.60 per share, exceeding the $3.20 expected by analysts, and despite slightly missing revenue expectations, the stock rose 7%, reflecting market confidence in its financial health.
See More
Qualcomm Shares Surge 10.3% on CEO's Optimism for Recovery
- Stock Surge: Qualcomm (QCOM.O) shares jumped 10.3% before the bell on Thursday, reflecting investor optimism following CEO Cristiano Amon's comments about a recovery in the smartphone business, despite a weak third-quarter forecast.
- Market Recovery Confidence: Amon expressed confidence that the smartphone market will begin to rebound after the fiscal third quarter during a Reuters interview, which may attract more investor interest in Qualcomm's future performance.
- Diversification Strategy: Qualcomm is actively working to reduce its dependence on the cyclical handset market by expanding into high-growth areas such as data center processors and autonomous vehicle chips, in response to uncertainty among smartphone manufacturers, particularly due to rising memory chip prices.
- Analyst Divergence: While the stock rose on investor optimism, some analysts expressed skepticism about Amon's remarks, suggesting that the smartphone industry still faces pressures from memory shortages and price increases, which could impact future revenue stability.
See More
