After a challenging week, QUALCOMM (QCOM) is experiencing an upswing as AI stocks stabilize on Monday. The stock gained around 2.30% in the afternoon, reaching $161.25. Over the last six trading sessions, QCOM has lost 10.42%. Notably, the $176.05B company fell 2.53% to finish at $164.32 on April 17. QCOM is currently 20% above its 200-day simple moving average and 5% below its 20-day SMA. As of March 31, short interest in the stock was 1.75% of the total float.
According to Richard Hunter of Interactive Investor, “Technology stocks came under fire at the end of a testing week, with some of the recent frothiness dissipated after a remarkable ascent for stocks with an AI focus.” Disappointing earnings reports from ASML, a Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, contributed to the decline in chip stocks. Super Micro Computer, a maker of artificial intelligence servers, experienced a significant drop after failing to provide preliminary figures alongside its earnings announcement, as is customary.
The decline in chip stocks had a negative impact on the S&P 500 technology sector as a whole. Prior to a slew of earnings announcements, the broader Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF was up 1.39% to $195.21 on Monday afternoon. QUALCOMM is expected to announce its Q2 financial results on May 1. The consensus EPS estimate is $2.31 (+7.64% year-over-year), while the revenue estimate is $9.33B (+0.71% year-over-year). Sell-side analysts recommend buying the stock, with an average target price of $173.31. Within a 90-day period, 36 analysts rated QCOM as a Strong Buy. The stock is also rated as a Buy by Seeking Alpha analysts, while Quant Rating assigns it a Hold rating with a score of 3.47 on a scale of 5, including grades such as D+ for valuation, A+ for profitability, and A- for momentum.
