Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares are down roughly 21% year-to-date, trading between $134 and $135 intraday on Wednesday. The stock shed another 3.65% on March 10 after a wave of analyst actions, capped by a fresh Underperform call from Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).
The question now is whether the sell-side is finally catching up to a story the market already priced in, or whether there is more pain ahead. After reaching a 52-week high of around $206 in October, could Qualcomm stock’s technical breakdown persist through the remainder of 2026?
It’s a tough call. For what it’s worth, today’s share-price fluctuations in QCOM were comparatively modest. The real damage happened over the preceding weeks, and BofA’s initiation is the latest chapter in a deteriorating sentiment story.
BofA Pulls the Trigger on a Sell
Just to recap, Bank of America initiated coverage on Qualcomm with an Underperform rating and a $145 price target on March 10. That might sound generous given where the stock sits today, but the message is clear: BofA doesn’t see meaningful upside, and the risks are real.
The core of their bear case is Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction). BofA analysts anticipate a substantial loss of Apple’s modem business by 2027 for Qualcomm as Apple shifts to internal chip development.
Apple is the kind of customer whose departure doesn’t just ding revenue; it reshapes the entire earnings narrative. Qualcomm has been living on borrowed time with Apple for years, and BofA is simply saying the clock is nearly up.
Separately, on March 10, Daiwa Securities, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), and Mizuho also adjusted their ratings and targets. When multiple desks move on the same day, it tends to reflect coordinated re-evaluation rather than noise.
Meanwhile, retail sentiment on Reddit for QCOM stock has been consistently bearish since mid-February. There, sentiment scores have ranged from 20 to 36 across most tracked periods, well below the neutral threshold.
The Bull Case Isn’t Dead
Here is what BofA’s narrative glosses over: Qualcomm just delivered a strong quarter. Q1 FY2026 revenue came in at $12.25 billion against a consensus of $12.18 billion, and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50 beat the $3.40 estimate.
Also, Qualcomm’s QCT semiconductor segment revenue hit a record $10.61 billion. Those aren’t the numbers of a company that’s falling apart.
Plus, the company’s automotive segment crossed the billion-dollar quarterly threshold for the second consecutive quarter, reaching $1.1 billion, up 15% year over year. Not only that, but Qualcomm’s IoT revenue added $1.69 billion, up 9%.
What the Street Actually Thinks
BofA’s Underperform rating is an outlier. The broader analyst consensus sits at Hold with an average price target of $168.48, implying meaningful upside from current levels.
Of 37 analysts tracked, 13 rate the stock a Buy and only 1 rates it a Sell. That lone sell is now BofA. You can check out Wall Street’s recent take on Qualcomm and its semiconductor peers for a broader read on how the sector is being positioned right now.
What’s Next for QCOM Stock?
If Qualcomm can execute on automotive, IoT, and AI edge computing while the handset business stabilizes, a QCOM stock turnaround may be in store. If Apple’s departure lands harder than expected, though, then BofA’s Underperform rating will look prescient. The stock is essentially pricing in the bear case already, which is exactly when these calls get most dangerous to follow blindly.
Qualcomm stock’s 2026 slide is real, painful, and rooted in legitimate structural concerns. Yet, a company delivering record semiconductor revenues and growing its automotive business above $1 billion per quarter isn’tt a broken story.
Whether BofA is right depends entirely on how fast Qualcomm can replace what Apple takes away, and that answer won’t be clear for a while. So, watch the Q2 FY2026 print closely when it arrives. That will be the first real test of whether the guidance step-down was a speed bump or a preview of the new normal for Qualcomm.
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