Qualcomm Shares Are Trading Lower: What's Going On?

Qualcomm Inc. QCOM shares are trading lower Thursday afternoon. The company has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit.

What Happened: According to a report from The Verge, shareholders brought a lawsuit against Qualcomm, accusing the company of misleading investors about its patent licensing practices.

The core of the dispute centered around unfair business practices in which Qualcomm allegedly tied negotiations for licensing patents to requirements to purchase its chips.

Qualcomm has reportedly agreed to pay $75 million to settle the shareholder suit, a somewhat surprising outcome given that Apple Inc. AAPL and global regulators tried and largely failed to get Qualcomm to pay for its aggressive licensing practices for years. The settlement reportedly still needs to be approved by a judge.

See Also: What’s Going On With Affirm Stock Thursday?

How To Buy QCOM Stock

Besides going to a brokerage platform to purchase a share – or fractional share – of stock, you can also gain access to shares either by buying an exchange traded fund (ETF) that holds the stock itself, or by allocating yourself to a strategy in your 401(k) that would seek to acquire shares in a mutual fund or other instrument.

For example, in Qualcomm's case, it is in the Information Technology sector. An ETF will likely hold shares in many liquid and large companies that help track that sector, allowing an investor to gain exposure to the trends within that segment.

Price Action: Qualcomm shares were down 5.41% at $214.80 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

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