QCOM Earnings Showdown: Fresh Tactical ETF Plays for Chip Giant's Q3 Report

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Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) reports fiscal Q3 2025 earnings on July 30th after market close, and traders have a brand new way to trade the chip giant's typically volatile earnings moves. The semiconductor leader faces headwinds from smartphone market weakness while pushing into AI and automotive opportunities.

QCOM shares have dropped 12% over the past year, underperforming the S&P 500's 17% gain. This decline comes despite the company beating earnings estimates in all four recent quarters, including an 18% surprise in Q1 when it reported $2.86 per share versus expectations of $2.42.

For active traders looking to attempt to capitalize on Qualcomm's earnings volatility, Direxion just launched Single Stock Daily Leveraged & Inverse ETFs on June 25th; perfect timing for the upcoming report. These tactical tools let traders attempt to amplify or hedge QCOM's price swings without traditional margin requirements.

Q3 Earnings Expectations

Wall Street expects Qualcomm to report $2.17 per share in fiscal Q3 earnings, up 12.4% from the $1.93 posted in the same quarter last year. This growth reflects the company's diversification beyond smartphones into automotive and IoT markets.

The company has delivered consistent beats lately, with earnings surprises ranging from 2.6% to 18.2% over the past four quarters. In Q2, Qualcomm reported $2.35 per share, slightly ahead of the $2.29 estimate; however, the stock fell 8.9% the next day due to weaker guidance.

For fiscal 2025, analysts project earnings of $9.48 per share, representing 12% growth from the $8.46 per share reported in fiscal 2024. Looking ahead to fiscal 2026, estimates predict $9.32 in earnings per share, indicating a slight decline as growth moderates.

Recent Stock Price Movement and Analyst Views

Qualcomm trades around $160, well below last summer's peak near $190 but above the 52-week low of $120.80. The stock's weakness reflects investor concerns about global smartphone demand and potential trade tensions affecting Chinese customers.

Analyst sentiment remains cautiously optimistic, with 32 analysts covering the stock. The breakdown shows 15 "Strong Buy" ratings, 1 "Moderate Buy," 15 "Hold," and 1 "Strong Sell" recommendation. The average price target of $179.04 is approximately 12% above current levels, with the Street-high target of $225 indicating potential for meaningful upside if execution improves.

Market watchers highlight several challenges, including U.S.-China trade uncertainties and slowing global demand in smartphones and consumer IoT. The company's heavy reliance on a small number of customers adds concentration risk to the story.

Key Factors for Q3 Results

Several elements will drive the stock's reaction when Qualcomm reports:

• Smartphone Trends: Any commentary on handset market recovery timing will move the stock, as mobile remains the core business.
• Automotive Progress: Growth in automotive chip revenue continues as a bright spot; investors want acceleration here.
• AI Integration: Updates on edge AI capabilities and customer adoption across product lines matter for the growth narrative.
• China Exposure: With significant revenue from Chinese customers, any trade or demand commentary carries weight.
• Diversification Success: Progress reducing dependence on Apple and Samsung through new customer wins.
• Margin Trajectory: Chip pricing power and mix shifts between high and low-margin products affect profitability.

Trading QCOM Earnings With Brand New ETFs

QCOM typically sees increased volatility surrounding their earnings releases, creating opportunities for positioned traders. Direxion's Single Stock Daily Leveraged & Inverse ETFs, provide accessible tools to trade the semiconductor leader's price action.

Bullish Trades: QCMU

Direxion Daily QCOM Bull 2X ETF (QCMU) allows traders to attempt to double their exposure to Qualcomm. QCMU seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of 200% of the performance of QCOM.

• Targets 200% of QCOM's daily performance
  • When Qualcomm rises 1%, QCMU aims for a 2% gain (before fees)
  • When Qualcomm falls 1%, QCMU typically drops 2% (before fees)
• Perfect for traders expecting strong automotive results or AI traction
• Semiconductor earnings often produce significant moves
• Trading volume still building as ETF just launched
• Designed for active traders monitoring positions closely

Bearish Trades: QCMD

Direxion Daily QCOM Bear 1X ETF (QCMD) provides inverse exposure to Qualcomm without requiring short-selling. This feature helps traders in retirement accounts where IRA and 401(k) rules prohibit traditional shorting. QCMD seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, of the inverse performance of QCOM.

• Delivers inverse (-1X) daily performance versus QCOM
  • When Qualcomm drops 1%, QCMD aims for a 1% gain (before fees)
  • When Qualcomm rises 1%, QCMD typically falls 1% (before fees)
• Valuable for traders worried about smartphone weakness or margin pressure
• Allows retirement account holders to make bearish trades on QCOM
• Light volume as product builds awareness
• Functions as portfolio hedge during uncertain earnings seasons

Both QCMU and QCMD reset their exposure daily and work best as short-term trading tools rather than buy-and-hold investments. These products require active oversight and are designed for traders who understand leverage and shorting effects and daily rebalancing dynamics.

With these ETFs launching just over a month before earnings, traders now have brand new tools to attempt to capitalize on Qualcomm's Q3 report volatility. The timing couldn't be better for those looking to play what's typically one of the chip sector's most market-moving earnings releases.

*Short-selling is a trading strategy where investors borrow shares and sell them, hoping the stock price will fall.

To learn more about all Direxion's Single Stock Leveraged and Inverse ETFS, Click Here

Investing in the funds involves a high degree of risk. Unlike traditional ETFs, or even other leveraged and/or inverse ETFs, these leveraged and/or inverse single-stock ETFs track the price of a single stock rather than an index, eliminating the benefits of diversification. Leveraged and inverse ETFs pursue daily leveraged investment objectives, which means they are riskier than alternatives which do not use leverage. They seek daily goals and should not be expected to track the underlying stock’s performance over periods longer than one day. They are not suitable for all investors and should be utilized only by investors who understand leverage risk and who actively manage their investments. The Funds will lose money if the underlying stock’s performance is flat, and it is possible that the Bull Fund will lose money even if the underlying stock’s performance increases, and the Bear Fund will lose money even if the underlying stock’s performance decreases, over a period longer than a single day. Investing in the Funds is not equivalent to investing directly in QCOM.

An investor should carefully consider a Fund’s investment objective, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. A Fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other information about the Direxion Shares. To obtain a Fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus call 866-476-7523 or visit our website at direxion.com. A Fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Direxion Shares Risks – An investment in a Fund involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Each Fund is non-diversified and includes risks associated with a Fund concentrating its investments in a particular security, industry, sector, or geographic region which can result in increased volatility. A Fund’s investments in derivatives such as futures contracts and swaps may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other investments, including imperfect correlations with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility and lack of availability. As a result, the value of an investment in a Fund may change quickly and without warning.

Leverage Risk – The Bull Fund obtains investment exposure in excess of its net assets by utilizing leverage and may lose more money in market conditions that are adverse to its investment objective than a fund that does not utilize leverage. A total loss may occur in a single day. Leverage will also have the effect of magnifying any differences in the Fund’s correlation with QCOM and may increase the volatility of the Bull Fund.

Daily Correlation Risk – A number of factors may affect the Bull Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of correlation with QCOM and therefore achieve its daily leveraged investment objective. The Bull Fund’s exposure to QCOM is impacted by QCOM’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Bull Fund will be perfectly exposed to QCOM at the end of each day. The possibility of the Bull Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to QCOM increases on days when QCOM is volatile near the close of the trading day.

Daily Inverse Correlation Risk – A number of factors may affect the Bear Fund’s ability to achieve a high degree of inverse correlation with QCOM and therefore achieve its daily inverse investment objective. The Bear Fund’s exposure to QCOM is impacted by QCOM’s movement. Because of this, it is unlikely that the Bear Fund will be perfectly exposed to QCOM at the end of each day. The possibility of the Bear Fund being materially over- or under-exposed to QCOM increases on days when QCOM is volatile near the close of the trading day.

QUALCOMM Incorporated Investing Risk – Issuer-specific attributes may cause an investment held by the Fund to be more volatile than the market generally. QCOM faces risks associated with: concentration of revenues amongst a small number of customers; vertical integration; concentration of business in China; requirements to grow the business and add new products and services; inability to profit from acquisitions and strategic transactions; limitations in supply chain and in demand for products and services; among other risks.

Semiconductor Industry Risk – Semiconductor companies may face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources or personnel and may face risks related to the availability of materials.

Information Technology Sector Risk — The value of stocks of information technology companies and companies that rely heavily on technology is particularly vulnerable to rapid changes in technology product cycles, rapid product obsolescence, government regulation, and competition, both domestically and internationally, including competition from competitors with lower production cost.

Additional risks of each Fund include Effects of Compounding and Market Volatility Risk, Derivatives Risk, Counterparty Risk, Rebalancing Risk, Intra-Day Investment Risk, Concentration Risk, Market Risk, Non-Affiliation Risk, Security Volatility Risk and Cash Transaction Risk. Additionally, for the Direxion Daily QCOM Bear 1X ETF, Shorting or Inverse Risk. Please see the summary and full prospectuses for a more complete description of these and other risks of a Fund.

Distributor: ALPS Distributors, Inc.

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