Qualcomm (QCOM) Stock Hit With Third Bearish Rating in Two Months

TLDR

• Seaport Research Partners downgraded Qualcomm (QCOM) to Sell from Neutral with a $100 price target
• QCOM has already dropped 24% year-to-date, trading around $129.82
• Seaport forecasts mobile phone volumes to fall 10%–15% in 2026 due to rising memory costs
• Apple is set to drop Qualcomm entirely from its iPhone supply chain, likely reaching zero presence in next year’s models
• Four of the top five smartphone vendors are now building their own processors internally

Qualcomm has been one of the rougher stories in semiconductors this year. The stock is down roughly 24% since January, and Seaport Research Partners thinks there’s more pain ahead.

QUALCOMM Incorporated, QCOM

On Monday, Seaport downgraded QCOM to Sell from Neutral and slapped a $100 price target on it — implying around 23% downside from current levels.

The core argument is straightforward: the smartphone market is getting squeezed, and Qualcomm is caught in the middle of it.

Seaport analyst Jay Goldberg says rising memory chip prices will push phone makers into a tough spot. Either phones get more expensive, or they ship with less memory. Either way, people hold onto their current phones longer.

The firm expects global phone sales volumes to fall 10% to 15% in 2026. That’s a meaningful hit to Qualcomm’s addressable market for mobile processors.

Apple, Qualcomm’s largest customer, is expected to fully phase out the chipmaker from its iPhone lineup. Seaport says Qualcomm’s share of iPhone content is likely heading to zero in next year’s models.

That’s a loss the market has been bracing for, but it doesn’t make it easier to absorb.

Android Isn’t Much of a Lifeline

High-end Android phones had been one of Qualcomm’s better-performing segments recently. But those devices are likely to feel the memory crunch the hardest.

That creates a double hit for Qualcomm: fewer chips sold, and lower royalty rates on the ones that are.

Chinese handset makers may pivot to lower-tier products, which could benefit rival MediaTek or push Qualcomm into cutting its own prices. Press reports already suggest Qualcomm has trimmed pricing on some models, and Seaport expects that to become more widespread.

Making things harder, four of the top five smartphone vendors are now developing their own processors in-house. That chips away at Qualcomm’s market position from multiple directions at once.

Analyst Ratings Piling Up

Seaport isn’t alone in its caution. BofA Securities reinstated coverage last week with an Underperform rating, pointing to projected sales and earnings growth that lag the broader semiconductor sector. BofA also flagged an anticipated $7–8 billion loss in Apple business as a key concern.

Mizuho cut QCOM to Neutral from Outperform back in January, citing similar trouble in the company’s core smartphone market.

Not everyone is bearish. Piper Sandler has kept an Overweight rating with a $200 target. Loop Capital upgraded the stock to Buy, citing diversification prospects. Wells Fargo moved it to Equal Weight from Underweight, pointing to Qualcomm’s data center strategy.

Qualcomm did beat expectations in its December quarter results, but its March guidance came in soft, hurt by memory shortages that hit Chinese OEM orders.

The stock was trading around $129.99 in premarket Monday, down about 1% on the day.

The post Qualcomm (QCOM) Stock Hit With Third Bearish Rating in Two Months appeared first on CoinCentral.