NEW YORK, Feb 4, 2026, 10:59 EST
Cantor Fitzgerald’s C.J. Muse lowered his price target on Qualcomm to $160 from $185, maintaining a Neutral rating ahead of the chipmaker’s quarterly report due Wednesday. Qualcomm shares gained roughly 2.9%, trading at $151.41 in early action.
Qualcomm plans to release its fiscal first-quarter earnings after the U.S. market closes on Wednesday, followed by a conference call at 1:45 p.m. Pacific time. The stock remains highly reactive to handset market cues, so the company’s guidance is expected to carry more weight than the actual results.
Qualcomm’s stock has slid 11.8% in the last month, according to Simply Wall St, even though the company’s shares are valued below an implied fair price of roughly $163.92 each. This figure comes from a discounted cash flow model, which estimates future cash flows and adjusts them to present-day value.
Cantor anticipates Qualcomm will post solid December-quarter results but warns of a weaker outlook afterward. The firm expects March-quarter guidance to come in “modestly below consensus” and June-quarter guidance to be “well below consensus,” Investing.com reported. Here, “guidance” means Qualcomm’s own forecast, while “consensus” is the average of analyst estimates. Cantor’s caution stems from Apple’s shrinking modem share, Samsung’s move to bring some modem production in-house, and declines in China handset sales tied to component shortages. Investing.com
Mizuho has dialed back its Qualcomm price target to $160 from $175, maintaining a Neutral rating. The downgrade reflects its dimmer outlook on global handset demand. The firm projects a roughly 4% drop in handset shipments in 2026 compared to 2025, but warns downside risk could exceed 5% if rising memory costs and supply bottlenecks hit production in the latter half. It also pointed to stiffening competition from MediaTek at the premium end.
Not everyone is turning bearish. Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon cut his price target to $200 from $215 but maintained an Outperform rating, saying the stock still merits attention despite worries over smartphones and the Apple “roll-off.” “We still think the story is worth a look as the narrative grows cleaner through the year,” Rasgon said. Insider Monkey
Wall Street is gearing up for Qualcomm’s upcoming report, with estimates around $12.13 billion in revenue and $3.39 in adjusted EPS for the December quarter, Barron’s noted. For the current quarter, analysts expect about $11.11 billion in revenue and $2.90 in earnings per share. Traders will also be watching closely for any updates on how component costs—memory prices, in particular—could impact handset demand.
But everything hinges on the smartphone cycle’s pace. If Android demand slips more, or Apple speeds up its move away from Qualcomm modems, near-term guidance could take a hit fast. On the other hand, if volumes stay steady, investors might need to rethink the current caution priced in.
Qualcomm produces chips for phones and other connected gadgets, while also managing a licensing business linked to its patents. According to a recent overview, the company runs its operations through three parts: the QCT chip segment, the QTL licensing segment, and the QSI initiatives unit.
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