Is Qualcomm stock finally ready to break out of its 18-month slump?

Qualcomm stock (NASDAQ: QCOM) has spent the past 18 months in a frustrating grind, squeezed between smartphone weakness and investor doubts about how quickly it can diversify beyond handsets.

But Tuesday brought a rare double vote of confidence as Loop Capital upgraded the stock to Buy with a $185 price target, while Wells Fargo lifted its rating to Equal Weight from Underweight.

For a stock that’s been sliding, the message was clear: some on Wall Street think the setup is finally improving.

Qualcomm stock: What changed and why now

Loop Capital’s Gary Mobley said Qualcomm is moving out of a “perfect storm” period, arguing that several pressures that weighed on the shares are easing at the same time.

In CNBC’s write-up of the call, Mobley raised his price target to $185 from $140, implying about 32% upside, and noted the stock is down 18% so far in 2026.

That combination of deep underperformance and the perception that the bad news is now “known” is often what makes an upgrade land with more force than it otherwise would.​

One of the longer-running investor fears has been customer concentration, especially Apple.

Qualcomm has openly faced the prospect of Apple shifting away from Qualcomm modems over time, and analysts have tried to handicap how much revenue could be at risk as Apple internalizes more components.

Mobley’s argument is that the Apple overhang is increasingly baked in, and that Qualcomm’s revenue mix is gradually moving in a direction where that dependency matters less.

Wells Fargo’s upgrade leaned into a similar theme, but with a different catalyst- data centers.

Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers upgraded Qualcomm to Equal Weight and raised his price target to $150 from $135.

The analyst emphasized Qualcomm’s data center strategy and partnership announcements could drive a sentiment shift.

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Two catalysts that could force a re-rating

The near-term catalyst Mobley pointed to is Qualcomm’s June analyst day, where investors expect the company to lay out more of its roadmap.

Those events matter because they can turn a vague “diversification story” into concrete targets and timelines.​

The second catalyst is the one that would hit the tape harder as a new data center customer or partnership announcement.

Wells Fargo explicitly said partnership news has the potential to shift sentiment, and tied its upgrade to the idea that Qualcomm’s data center opportunity is not fully reflected in the stock.

If Qualcomm can prove it has credible adoption outside phones, whether in data centers, automotive, or industrial “internet of things” chips, it becomes easier for investors to justify paying a higher multiple for the business.​