Qorvo slips on Wells Fargo downgrade, citing worries over sentiment, smartphone exposure
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Qorvo (NASDAQ:QRVO) slipped on Tuesday as investment firm Wells Fargo downgraded the semiconductor company, noting it is trying to better position itself for an investor sentiment "inflection point."
Analyst Gary Mobley lowered his rating on Qorvo (QRVO) to equal weight from overweight and slashed the firm's price target to $85 from $130, pointing out the company has high exposure to Apple (AAPL) and the mobile phone market. 
"Our lower [price target] is based on lower peer group multiples as well as the assumption [Qorvo] may trade at a discount to the broader chip sectors until the company can diversify the business away from Apple and away from the mobile phone market," Mobley wrote in a note to clients.
The analyst added that the discount relative to the rest of the chip sector may be a "permanent fixture" for Qorvo (QRVO), given that 33% of its sales come from Apple (AAPL). Mobley also cited the fact that Qorvo (QRVO) may suffer from the continued fallout between the U.S. and China over trade relations, as well as the newly enacted export control rules from the Commerce Department.
Qorvo (QRVO) shares fell 2.8% to $79.67 in premarket trading.
Despite the downgrade, Mobley did not lower Qorvo's (QRVO) estimates for fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025, but did note they are already below consensus.
Late last month, Bank of America said Qorvo (QRVO) would be impacted by slowing iPhone sales, as the firm cut iPhone estimates for the next few quarters.
Analysts are largely cautious on Qorvo (QRVO). It has a BUY rating from Seeking Alpha authors, while Wall Street analysts rate it a HOLD. Conversely, Seeking Alpha's quant system, which consistently beats the market, rates QRVO a HOLD.