Qualcomm Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:QCOM)

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 161,180 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 29% compared to the average volume of 124,834 call options.

Qualcomm Price Performance

Shares of QCOM stock traded up $7.49 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $204.90. The stock had a trading volume of 33,607,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,742,182. 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 market capitalization of $215.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 25.36 and a beta of 1.59. Qualcomm has a one year low of $121.99 and a one year high of $259.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $198.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.48.

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

Qualcomm Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Qualcomm’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Qualcomm declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 17th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the wireless technology company to purchase up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting Qualcomm

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm raised its fiscal 2029 non-handset revenue target to $40 billion, roughly double its prior goal, signaling a much larger growth opportunity outside the core handset business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company unveiled a data center AI roadmap targeting more than $15 billion in revenue by fiscal 2029, which strengthens the bull case for Qualcomm as an AI infrastructure player. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm announced a multi-generation data center CPU agreement with Meta, giving the company a marquee customer and validating its push into AI servers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm agreed to acquire AI software firm Modular, which could improve its software stack and help it compete more effectively in edge-to-cloud AI workloads. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The expanded Hugging Face partnership adds support for open, developer-driven AI deployment across Qualcomm’s device and data center platforms, reinforcing its AI momentum. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several brokerages raised price targets after the update, including Rosenblatt, while TD Cowen reaffirmed a buy rating but with a lower target than the current trading level. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported Qualcomm is also in talks with ByteDance for chip-design services, adding another possible diversification avenue, though the deal is not yet confirmed. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Insider-trading data shows more selling than buying over the past six months, which may temper enthusiasm even as the stock rallies. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on QCOM shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Qualcomm from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Qualcomm in a research note on Thursday. Craig Hallum cut Qualcomm from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised Qualcomm from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on Qualcomm in a report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total value of $167,267.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction 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 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 have sold a total of 21,806 shares of company stock valued at $3,928,958 over the last three months. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualcomm

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Basepoint Wealth LLC raised 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 worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp boosted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 0.6% during the third quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 10,085 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Qualcomm by 2.6% during the third quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,401 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Qualcomm by 0.5% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,704 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,744,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

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.