NEW YORK, Dec. 28, 2025, 4:03 p.m. ET — Market closed
Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) heads into the final trading stretch of 2025 with its stock holding near the $175 level after a quiet, holiday-thinned week for U.S. equities—and a weekend where markets are closed. Shares last finished the regular session at $174.81, essentially flat on the day, leaving investors focused less on immediate price action and more on what could drive the next decisive move: the company’s February 4, 2026 earnings event, the smartphone AI upgrade cycle, and Qualcomm’s expanding push beyond handsets into automotive and data centers. [1]
With New Year’s week approaching, the broader market setup matters. Investors are also navigating a holiday-shortened calendar (stocks closed Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026) and a light—but still market-moving—economic slate that includes housing data, jobless claims, and Federal Reserve minutes, which can sway rate expectations and, by extension, richly valued growth and semiconductor names like Qualcomm. [2]
Where Qualcomm stock stands heading into Monday’s open
Because U.S. markets are closed today (Sunday), Qualcomm’s next opportunity to trade will be Monday, Dec. 29, when premarket trading begins at 4:00 a.m. ET and the regular session opens at 9:30 a.m. ET.
As of the latest completed session, QCOM ended at $174.81. In late Friday extended-hours trading, MarketWatch showed the stock at about $174.50, slightly lower than the close. [3]
For context, Qualcomm has traded in a 52-week range of roughly $120.80 to $205.95, placing the stock about 15% below its 52-week high and roughly 45% above its 52-week low—squarely in the middle of its annual band as investors weigh AI-driven upside against competitive and customer-concentration risks. [4]
In the broader tape, major index ETFs were little changed in the latest session—an important backdrop because QCOM’s near-term moves often track broader risk appetite in tech and semis. Semiconductor-focused ETFs were also mixed, reflecting how stock selection has mattered more than sector beta during this year-end stretch.
The last 24–48 hours: weekend headlines focus on institutional positioning
There has been no major new Qualcomm press release over the past two days, and weekend “headline flow” has been dominated by institutional-holdings stories tied to SEC disclosures and portfolio positioning.
Among the filings-based items published in the last 24–48 hours:
- Paradiem LLC increased its Qualcomm stake during the third quarter, according to a MarketBeat summary of SEC disclosures. [5]
- Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. reported a modest increase in its Qualcomm position, also based on SEC disclosure coverage. [6]
- Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV reported Qualcomm as one of its larger holdings, again reflected via filings coverage. [7]
Investors should keep the “signal” here in perspective: 13F-style and related disclosures can help identify who owned what during a past reporting period, but they do not necessarily indicate current-day buying or selling, and they rarely explain why a position changed. Still, the cluster of filings-focused coverage reinforces a key reality about QCOM’s shareholder base: the stock is heavily owned by institutions and tends to react quickly when analyst narratives or macro conditions shift. [8]
Analyst forecasts: a “moderate buy” setup, with targets clustered around the low-$190s
Wall Street’s consensus view on Qualcomm remains constructive, though not euphoric.
MarketBeat’s aggregated data shows a “Moderate Buy” consensus based on 21 analyst ratings, with an average 12-month price target of $192.94 (with targets spanning $155 to $225). [9]
A separate analyst-consensus snapshot from Investing.com similarly points to an average target around $193.40 from 25 analysts, with a $157–$225 spread—implying roughly ~10% upside from the current $174.81 area if consensus targets are met. [10]
What that means heading into Monday:
- Bulls have an argument that QCOM’s valuation and positioning do not yet fully reflect its longer-term expansion into higher-growth compute and automotive platforms.
- Bears counter that consensus targets can drift quickly if handset demand slows, if Apple modem transition concerns intensify, or if broader tech multiples compress on higher-for-longer rates.
The next major catalyst: Qualcomm’s Feb. 4 earnings event, after its fiscal Q1 just ended
One calendar detail stands out today: Qualcomm’s investor FAQ lists Dec. 28, 2025 as the end date for the company’s fiscal 2026 first quarter—meaning the quarter investors will be dissecting is now complete. [11]
Qualcomm has scheduled its Q1 FY26 earnings conference call for February 4, 2026 at 1:45 p.m. PT (4:45 p.m. ET). That timing matters: a 4:45 p.m. ET start generally means results and prepared remarks will be released around the market close, when after-hours trading can be volatile. [12]
Investors will likely go into that event focused on three questions:
- Handsets: can “AI phones” sustain premium demand?
In early November, Reuters reported that Qualcomm forecast stronger-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results, pointing to demand for premium smartphones with AI capabilities, while acknowledging uncertainty tied to major customers and platform mix. [13] - Guidance credibility and margin shape
MarketWatch summarized Qualcomm’s outlook at the time as revenue of $11.8–$12.6 billion and adjusted EPS of $3.30–$3.50 for the fiscal first quarter—numbers that will become the benchmark for “beat, meet, or miss” expectations as February approaches. [14] - Diversification: how fast can automotive and data center scale?
Qualcomm’s longer-run narrative is no longer just “Snapdragon in phones.” It is increasingly “connected compute everywhere,” especially in cars and, more recently, data centers.
Strategic push: data center ambitions and the Alphawave Semi acquisition
One of Qualcomm’s most notable late-2025 strategic moves was its expansion into data center connectivity and compute.
On Dec. 18, 2025, Qualcomm announced it completed its acquisition of Alphawave Semi ahead of schedule and said Tony Pialis, Alphawave Semi’s CEO and co-founder, would lead Qualcomm’s data center business. In the company’s release, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said Alphawave Semi’s high-speed connectivity “complements” Qualcomm’s CPU and NPU roadmap for next-generation AI data centers. [15]
For QCOM stock, this matters for two reasons:
- It provides investors a clearer “second act” beyond phones—especially if AI infrastructure spending broadens to include alternative silicon platforms and custom silicon opportunities.
- It also raises the execution bar: data centers are a fiercely competitive arena, and investors will likely demand clear customer wins, product timelines, and margin expectations over the next several quarters.
Dividend angle: steady income, but QCOM remains primarily a growth-cycle stock
Qualcomm also retains an income component that can matter in choppy markets.
In an Oct. 17, 2025 announcement, Qualcomm declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.89 per share, payable Dec. 18, 2025, to shareholders of record Dec. 4, 2025. [16]
At a share price around $174.81, that dividend implies an annualized payout of $3.56 per share, or roughly ~2.0% yield (before taxes and assuming the dividend remains unchanged). [17]
Investors typically don’t buy QCOM only for yield, but the dividend can help cushion drawdowns during down cycles in semiconductors—especially when combined with buybacks and licensing cash flows.
What investors should watch before the next session
With markets closed today, the “pre-open” checklist becomes more important than usual—particularly during the thinly traded final week of the year.
Here are the key items to watch before Monday’s session:
- Macro calendar and holiday liquidity: Investopedia’s week-ahead preview flagged key releases (including housing data and jobless claims) alongside the New Year holiday schedule, a mix that can amplify moves when liquidity is lower. [18]
- Holiday trading schedule: Nasdaq’s holiday schedule confirms U.S. markets are closed Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026 (New Year’s Day), which can shift positioning and hedging earlier in the week. [19]
- Semiconductor tape: Watch whether chip ETFs and mega-cap tech open with risk-on or risk-off tone; QCOM often follows the broader semi complex early, then diverges on Qualcomm-specific news.
- Headline risk around Apple and handset competition: Reuters has highlighted investor sensitivity to Apple modem transition dynamics and handset share shifts—topics that can resurface without warning via supply-chain reports or analyst notes. [20]
- Earnings expectations into Feb. 4: With Qualcomm’s fiscal Q1 now complete and the earnings call scheduled, any estimate revisions or channel checks can gain influence quickly. [21]
Bottom line
Qualcomm stock enters the next session in a familiar spot: stable price action near $175, constructive—but not unanimous—analyst targets in the low-$190s, and a strategic narrative increasingly tied to AI-era devices, automotive platforms, and a newer data center growth lane. [22]
The weekend’s limited, filings-driven headlines may not move the needle on their own, but they reinforce how closely institutions track QCOM. The bigger near-term inflection remains February 4, when investors will test whether Qualcomm’s AI and diversification story is translating into results—and whether guidance stays resilient amid competitive pressures. [23]
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
References
1. www.investing.com, 2. www.investopedia.com, 3. www.marketwatch.com, 4. www.investing.com, 5. www.marketbeat.com, 6. www.marketbeat.com, 7. www.marketbeat.com, 8. www.marketbeat.com, 9. www.marketbeat.com, 10. www.investing.com, 11. investor.qualcomm.com, 12. investor.qualcomm.com, 13. www.reuters.com, 14. www.marketwatch.com, 15. investor.qualcomm.com, 16. investor.qualcomm.com, 17. investor.qualcomm.com, 18. www.investopedia.com, 19. www.nasdaq.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. investor.qualcomm.com, 22. www.marketbeat.com, 23. www.marketbeat.com
