How Much A $1,000 Investment In Qualcomm 5 Years Ago Would Be Worth Today

Investors who have owned stocks since 2016 generally have experienced some big gains. In fact, the SPDR S&P 500 SPY total return in the past five years is 119.9%. But there is no question some big-name stocks performed better than others along the way.

Qualcomm’s Big Run: One company that has been a spectacular investment in the past five years is chipmaker QUALCOMM, Inc. QCOM. Qualcomm investors who bought back in 2016 and held on through some extremely volatile times have seen a sizable payoff for their patience.

The rise of smartphones, online gaming, cloud computing, cryptocurrency and other innovations created a boom in semiconductor demand over the past decade.

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Unfortunately for Qualcomm, the past several years were partially defined by licensing disputes, merger uncertainty and rising competition.

In March 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump blocked a potential $117-billion Qualcomm buyout by Broadcom Inc AVGO on national security grounds.

After the failed merger, Qualcomm investors got some good news in March 2019 when Qualcomm and Apple, Inc. AAPL reached a settlement on all ongoing lawsuits and agreed to a six-year global patent licensing agreement to preserve their crucial relationship.

At the beginning of 2016, Qualcomm shares were trading at around $50. Shares initially dropped as low as $42.24 in early 2016 during a broad market sell-off tied to concerns over a slowdown in China’s economy.

Qualcomm rebounded to as high as $71.62 by late 2016, but it wouldn’t make it to the $80 level until the Apple settlement was reached in early 2019.

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Qualcomm ultimately made it to a pre-pandemic high of $96.17 in early 2020 before the March market sell-off dropped the stock back down to $58.

Yet Qualcomm jumped above $100 to new all-time highs in the second half of 2020 after the company reported big earnings beats driven by strong demand from the global rollout of 5G wireless networks.

Qualcomm In 2021, Beyond: Qualcomm shares ultimately topped out at $167.94 in early 2021 before pulling back to around $151 on Thursday morning when the company reported disappointing fiscal first-quarter sales numbers.

Despite Thursday’s pullback, Qualcomm investors who bought five years ago and held on still have big profits to show for it. In fact, $1,000 in Qualcomm stock bought in 2016 would be worth about $4,313 today, assuming reinvested dividends.

Looking ahead, analysts are expecting Qualcomm shares to continue to push higher in the next 12 months. The average price target among the 27 analysts covering the stock is $175, suggesting 7.8% upside from current levels.