Qualcomm (QCOM) is scheduled to report the results of its fiscal third quarter after the market closes on July 27 with a conference call scheduled for 4:45 pm ET. What to watch for:

1. GUIDANCE: Along with its last report, Qualcomm guided for Q3 adjusted earnings per share of $2.75-$2.95 on revenue of $10.5B-$11.3B. At the time, analysts were expecting the company to report Q3 EPS of $2.59 on revenue of $9.98B, but those figures have since risen to $2.87 and $10.87B, respectively.

2. DEUTSCHE BANK: Last week, Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Seymore reiterated a Buy rating on Qualcomm but cut his price target on the shares to $170 from $190, saying the ongoing "purgatory" stage of the semiconductor cycle continues heading into the Q2 earnings season. Despite expecting positive fundamental strength across the majority of the sector in Q2 and Q3, the analyst said that investors appear to be waiting for a "widespread deck-clearing" guide-down before getting back into semi stocks. Seymore is now "more actively factoring in accelerating macro/sector headwinds" into his 2023 estimates, reducing revenue/earnings/price targets by an average of 4%/10%/14%.

3. JPMORGAN: Additionally, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee earlier this month lowered the firm's price target on Qualcomm to $185 from $205 and maintained an Overweight rating on the shares. The analyst is taking a "defensive stance" with his networking and hardware coverage universe as he sees increasing signs of the challenging macro feed into demand trends. Chatterjee recommends investors look for diversification away from higher risk areas like enterprise spending as well as auto exposure relative to "more resilient Capex spend" from cloud customers as well as telco/cable customers. He increasingly expects smartphones and TVs to cycle past trough sentiment with a rebound likely in the out-year driven by replacement cycles.

4. EDWARD JONES: Meanwhile, Edward Jones analyst Logan Purk recently upgraded Qualcomm to Buy from Hold, saying the stock does not fully reflect his growth outlook. Qualcomm is the industry leader in 5G technology and will participate in the global adoption of 5G handsets, Purk told investors in a research note. The company also sells chips for connected devices and automobiles, which should support higher growth than the handset market and provide diversification, added the analyst.

5. SEMI BILL: Qualcomm's latest report comes about a week after the Wall Street Journal reported that Congress is working on a bill providing $52B to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing that would also impose 'guardrails' to ensure adversarial countries such as China won't benefit as well. According to CNBC Tuesday, the bipartisan bill has cleared a key Senate vote, setting it up for final passage in the chamber.

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