New York, February 12, 2026, 16:08 EST — After-hours trading underway
- Qualcomm dropped 1.8% through the session, then barely moved after hours.
- Daiwa cut its rating to neutral, giving the stock a $140 price target.
- Investors are watching handset memory constraints ahead of Samsung’s Feb. 25 flagship event.
Qualcomm fell 1.8% on Thursday, wrapping up the day just above $138.5. Shares were active again after the 4 p.m. ET bell. Chip names lost ground as well, with the Nasdaq off about 2%.
Daiwa Securities downgraded Qualcomm, shifting the stock to neutral from outperform and setting a $140 price target, according to an MT Newswires note. Qualcomm has picked up a handful of analyst rating changes since its last quarterly report.
This one’s got some heft—the stock story has snapped back to smartphones, at least for this quarter. On last week’s fiscal Q1 call, CFO Akash Palkhiwala pointed to “increasing demand for memory solutions in AI data centers is driving near-term uncertainty in memory supply and pricing for handset OEMs,” as he described the latest headwinds for device makers. https://s204.q4cdn.com/645488518/files/doc…
Chief executive Cristiano Amon was blunt in the Q&A: “100% related to memory,” he said, pointing straight at DRAM supply in phones. Qualcomm is guiding for fiscal second-quarter revenue between $10.2 billion and $11 billion, and it sees adjusted earnings per share landing somewhere from $2.45 to $2.65.
The stock hasn’t shaken off its troubles. After earnings, Amon told Reuters that memory shortages are pinching smartphone demand and led to the miss. Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research, said the memory squeeze could last “the next several quarters” and singled out China as a pressure point. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/qualco…
Handset troubles aren’t getting much airtime from investors right now; their focus has shifted to Qualcomm’s bets outside phones and whether those can pull their weight this quarter. The company’s pushed hard into automotive and connected devices, and data-center chips have drawn plenty of buzz lately. Yet, the share price keeps swinging in response to every fresh phone supply-chain headline.
Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event kicks off Feb. 25 in San Francisco, putting the next launch window in sharp focus. Qualcomm, supplier of Snapdragon chips powering many top Android phones, usually adjusts both orders and product mix as each fresh model rolls out.
“Memory” might stick around longer than bulls would like. If handset makers keep slashing their build schedules—trying to juggle component shortages and pricing—Qualcomm’s chip shipments could feel the squeeze, regardless of how end-demand holds up.
There’s also share to consider. Qualcomm’s fight with MediaTek for Android dominance hasn’t let up. Meanwhile, Apple and Samsung keep advancing their in-house chips—potentially shrinking Qualcomm’s slice of the next cycle.
Friday brings the question: will the downgrade set off more target slashes, or do chip stocks claw back any losses after the recent rout? Looking ahead, earnings land May 6.
