Qualcomm Stock Has an Opportunity Investors May Be Underestimating
Qualcomm Stock Has an Opportunity Investors May Be Underestimating
Vandita JadejaSun, September 27, 2026 at 5:00 PM UTC
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QualcommQuick Read -
QCOM is rated BUY with a $228 price target as the market underprices non-handset revenue guided to grow over 60% in fiscal 2027.
Apple's modem pullback could cut QCOM's Apple revenue in half, while Marvell's comparable valuation on less revenue suggests $228 may be conservative.
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Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) is building a data center franchise that management believes can hit $15 billion in revenue by fiscal 2029. That opportunity is not fully priced in.
Our 24/7 Wall St. price target for Qualcomm is $228.68 over the next 12 months, implying 16.27% upside from $194.38. We rate the stock a buy with 90% confidence.
24/7 Wall St. Price Target Summary
Metric
Value
Current Price
$194.38
24/7 Wall St. Price Target
$228.68
Upside
16.27%
Recommendation
Confidence Level
90%
QCOM Price Target — 24/7 Wall St.What Just Happened With Qualcomm Shares
Qualcomm rallied 23.28% over the past month and 15.44% year to date, though it sits roughly 25% below its 52-week high of $257.56.
Fiscal Q3 2026 results showed revenue of $9.947 billion (beating estimates by 2.84%) with non-GAAP EPS of $2.21, missing consensus by 0.49%. Handsets fell 20% year over year, but automotive grew 61% to $1.588 billion, marking 23 consecutive quarters of double-digit growth.
Why Bulls See a Breakout to $245+
CEO Cristiano Amon raised the long-term non-handset target to $40 billion by fiscal 2029. Two hyperscaler custom silicon programs begin shipping in the December quarter, with the first high-bandwidth compute solution launching in mid-2027.
Automotive run-rate exiting fiscal 2026 was lifted to approximately $7 billion from $6 billion. Non-handset growth is guided to accelerate from 24% in fiscal 2026 to greater than 60% in fiscal 2027. If execution holds, the bull case reaches $245.07 within 12 months.
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QCOM Price Scenario — 24/7 Wall St.What Could Go Wrong for QCOM
The bear case starts with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Management expects Qualcomm's modem share in the upcoming iPhone to be materially lower than the prior 20% estimate, with Apple revenue projected to fall roughly 50% from September to December.
Add memory-driven input cost inflation, QCT gross margins slipping below the historical 48% to 50% band, and a 1.5% to 2% margin drag from initial data center ramps.
Q3 operating income fell 41.13% year over year. Bulls counter that management is pushing through double-digit price increases to recapture margin. Our bear-case 12-month floor is $192.71.
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QCOM Analyst Ratings — 24/7 Wall St.How Qualcomm Compares to Broadcom and Marvell
Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) is the aspirational benchmark. Broadcom's Q3 FY26 AI semiconductor revenue hit $16.7 billion, growing 221% year over year, with Q4 AI silicon guided to $21.7 billion.
At a $1.67 trillion market cap versus Qualcomm's roughly $207 billion, AVGO shows what the market pays for proven hyperscaler exposure. Qualcomm's data center revenue is aiming for a fraction of that, which is why our target treats the ramp cautiously.
Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) is the closer analog. Marvell's Q2 FY27 data center revenue reached $2.17 billion, up 46% year over year and 79% of total revenue, with a Google custom silicon partnership tied to a warrant for up to 7% of Marvell shares.
Marvell trades at a $226 billion market cap on far less revenue than Qualcomm, which makes our $228.68 target look conservative if Qualcomm's hyperscaler wins scale similarly.
Data Center Optionality Anchors the Thesis
Our 24/7 Wall St. price target of $228.68 reflects a buy with 90% confidence.
The tipping factor is the non-handset inflection: management is telling us fiscal 2027 growth exceeds 60% off a diversified base, and the market is still pricing Qualcomm like a handset company.
The same data center buildout powering that inflection is lifting a broader set of suppliers, seven of which we profiled in a free report on the AI infrastructure trade here: 7 Stocks Powering the AI Boom. Watch for December-quarter guidance to confirm the hyperscaler ramp and pricing actions to stabilize QCT gross margin.
Year
24/7 Wall St. Price Target
2026
$202.89
2027
$230.33
2028
$254.24
2029
$282.74
2030
$297.47
These projections assume Qualcomm executes on its $40 billion non-handset target and hyperscaler custom silicon scales as guided. Upside or downside could result from Apple share loss, US-China trade actions, or HBC adoption pace after mid-2027.
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Contact editorial@247wallst.com for any questions or corrections.
Source: “AOL Money”
