Qualcomm Stock Slides 0.46% Despite 10.4% Revenue Jump Trading Volume Plummets 35.8% to 59th in Activity Rank

On August 4, 2025, Qualcomm (QCOM) closed with a 0.46% decline, trading at $148.19, despite a 10.4% year-over-year revenue increase to $10.37 billion in its latest quarter. The stock saw a significant drop in trading volume, with $1.2 billion in turnover, a 35.81% decrease from the prior day, ranking it 59th in market activity.

Institutional investors have shown increased confidence in Qualcomm, with Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosting its stake by 4.2% in Q1, now holding 622,017 shares valued at $95.5 million. Northern Trust Corp and UBS AM also raised holdings in Q4, with the latter adding 1.4 million shares to own $1.5 billion worth of stock. Analyst activity highlights a mixed outlook, as Benchmark cut its price target to $200 from $240, while Rosenblatt reissued a $225 target. The stock maintains a "Hold" consensus rating, with a $181.10 average price target.

Qualcomm’s financial performance underscored its resilience, reporting $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for Q2, exceeding estimates by $0.06. The company declared a $0.89 quarterly dividend, yielding 2.4% and reflecting a payout ratio of 34.33%. Insider activity included CFO Akash Palkhiwala selling 3,333 shares, reducing his ownership by 6.7%, and major shareholder Inc/De Qualcomm offloading $6.6 million in shares. These moves highlight cautious positioning amid broader market volatility.

The strategy of purchasing the top 500 stocks by daily trading volume and holding for one day delivered a 166.71% return from 2022 to the present, outperforming the benchmark by 137.53%. This underscores the role of liquidity concentration in short-term performance, particularly in volatile markets, where high-volume stocks like Qualcomm can experience amplified price movements driven by institutional and algorithmic activity.