NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 05:07 ET — Market closed
QUALCOMM Incorporated shares ended the last trading day of 2025 lower as chip stocks slipped with a broader year-end pullback.
The decline matters because investors often reset positions at the turn of the calendar, and semiconductors were among the most crowded trades in 2025.
For Qualcomm, the next catalyst is not another holiday-thin session. It is the first wave of January economic data and the company’s next update on demand for smartphone chips and licensing.
Qualcomm (QCOM) fell $2.59, or 1.5%, to $171.05 on Wednesday. The shares traded between $170.88 and $173.94, with about 4.7 million changing hands.
Wall Street’s main indexes also finished the year lower, with the S&P 500 down 0.74% and the Nasdaq off 0.76%, after a holiday-shortened week of light volume. The market’s four-day skid also defied the “Santa Claus rally” pattern — a period when stocks often rise around year-end — and traders pointed to profit-taking in a low-liquidity tape. “It’s perfectly fine in any bull market to have moments of cost,” said Giuseppe Sette, co-founder and president of Reflexivity. 1
Qualcomm underperformed several large-cap chipmakers in the session, with Nvidia down 0.55%, Broadcom off 1.07% and Intel down 1.07%, MarketWatch data showed. Qualcomm remains about 17% below its 52-week high near $206, hit in late October. 2
Before next session, traders return on Friday after the New Year’s Day closure for U.S. stock markets. 3
On the macro calendar, investors get the ISM manufacturing PMI at 10 a.m. ET on Jan. 2, a closely watched gauge of factory activity. The December jobs report is due Jan. 9, followed by the December CPI inflation report on Jan. 13, according to the Labor Department’s release schedule. 4
Qualcomm’s next earnings report is expected around Feb. 4, according to Nasdaq’s earnings calendar. Traders will be watching for any shift in the company’s outlook and commentary on demand across premium Android phones and new AI-capable PCs. 5
In November, Qualcomm forecast fiscal first-quarter sales and adjusted profit above Wall Street estimates, leaning on demand for its smartphone modem chips that connect phones to wireless networks. The company said it expected revenue at a midpoint of $12.2 billion and adjusted profit of about $3.40 per share for the quarter that ended in December. 6
Technically, investors are watching whether QCOM can hold the recent $170 area after year-end weakness and whether it can work back toward its autumn highs if risk appetite returns.
