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Qualcomm shares gap down 13% after results, then claw back some losses
The chipmaker behind many of the world's phones lost about $17 a share in a day as a weak handset business and a brutal chip-sector rout collided.
Qualcomm stock opened Thursday about 13% lower, then recovered part of the drop. Shares closed Wednesday at $173.19 and began trading near $150. By late morning they were at $156.16, down 9.83%, according to an analysis on Investing.com. Market value fell to roughly $166.75 billion from more than $183 billion.
The slide began after the bell on Wednesday, when Qualcomm reported fiscal fourth-quarter results. Extended trading pushed the stock down, and premarket indications pointed to a 9% fall. The low of $149.08 came within the first half hour. Buyers then stepped in, and the stock reached a high of $158.43 and never retested that floor.
The drop wiped out a recent win. Qualcomm had jumped 5.3% on Wednesday on news of a multiyear 5G infrastructure deal with SpaceX. Thursday's fall erased that gain and another 4.5% on top. Early volume was heavy, at 4.78 million shares against an 11.69 million average.
Bad timing made it worse. The PHLX Semiconductor Index fell 11% on Thursday, its worst day since March 2020, with AMD, Nvidia and Micron all sharply lower. The analysis ties the wider selloff to election results that rattled AI infrastructure stocks. Qualcomm led chip stocks down at the open, then data-center names overtook it as the morning went on.
Why does a phone-chip company matter to ordinary buyers? Because its main business is shrinking. Handset revenue fell 26% in the September quarter, and Apple modem sales are heading to zero. The analysis expects a margin squeeze to last into mid-2027. Qualcomm's bet is that cars and data centers can fill the gap. Automotive revenue rose 89% to a record $1.99 billion, and the unit is on track for an $8 billion annual run rate by the end of fiscal 2026. Management also reiterated a $5 billion data-center target for fiscal 2027.
Even after Thursday's fall, the stock sits 39.9% below its May 29 peak of $259.92 and 28% above its April low of $121.99. At $156 it trades at 14.8 times fiscal 2026 non-GAAP earnings of $10.54. The analysis argues that this prices Qualcomm as a business in decline rather than one changing what it sells. That is one analyst's view, and the next few quarters will test it.
Read the original analysis at Investing.com.
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