Qualcomm Inc (QCOM) — Company Research

Last Updated: 5 July 2026

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is the San Diego semiconductor and licensing group behind the Snapdragon platforms that power most premium Android smartphones, alongside fast-growing automotive and IoT chip franchises and a patent-licensing arm with margins most businesses can only dream of. Fiscal 2025 (ended 28 Sep 2025) delivered record revenue of $44.3bn, and the company has just laid out an aggressive push into AI data-centre silicon. This research reviews the numbers, the valuation and the risks. For live price action see our Live Charts, and check the Economic Calendar for upcoming events that move semiconductor stocks.

1. Company Snapshot

Field	Value
Company	Qualcomm Incorporated
Ticker / Exchange	QCOM / NASDAQ
Headquarters	San Diego, California, USA (founded 1985)
Sector	Technology — semiconductors and wireless licensing
CEO / Leadership	Cristiano Amon, President and Chief Executive Officer
Employees	~52,000
Market cap	~$185.8bn (3 Jul 2026, share price $176.25)
Revenue (net sales), FY2025	$44.28bn (year ended 28 Sep 2025), +14% year on year
Net income, FY2025	$5.54bn GAAP (depressed by a $5.7bn non-cash tax charge); $13.30bn non-GAAP
Dividend	$0.92 per quarter ($3.68 annualised, ~2.1% yield), raised from $0.89 in Mar 2026
Fiscal year end	Late September (52/53-week year; FY2026 ends 27 Sep 2026)

2. Bull & Bear Case

Bull Case

• Diversification is working: FY2025 automotive revenue grew 36% to $3.96bn and IoT 22% to $6.62bn, with combined growth of 27%; Q2 FY2026 automotive hit a record $1.33bn (+38%), steadily reducing dependence on handsets.
• Credible data-centre entry: The June 2026 Investor Day unveiled the Dragonfly server CPU/accelerator portfolio with Meta and Microsoft as anchor hyperscaler partners, a custom-silicon engagement shipping later in calendar 2026, and a target of more than $15bn of data-centre revenue by FY2029 within a $40bn non-handset ambition.
• Licensing cash machine: QTL earned $4.04bn of EBT on $5.58bn of revenue in FY2025 — a 72% margin annuity on 3G/4G/5G patents that funds R&D and shareholder returns through every handset cycle.
• Heavy capital returns: $12.6bn was returned in FY2025 ($8.8bn buybacks, $3.8bn dividends), another $5.4bn of stock was repurchased in H1 FY2026, a fresh $20bn authorisation was added in April 2026, and the dividend has been raised again to $0.92 a quarter.
• Undemanding rating for the growth on offer: At ~14.8x trailing non-GAAP earnings and ~14.5x free cash flow, QCOM trades far below AI-exposed semiconductor peers despite record revenue and a genuine data-centre option.

Bear Case

• Handset concentration and the Apple runway: Handsets were still $27.8bn (63%) of QCT revenue in FY2025 and fell 13% year on year in Q2 FY2026; Apple continues to migrate to in-house modems, removing a major customer over time.
• Memory-driven guidance cut: Q3 FY2026 guidance of $9.2–10.0bn revenue and $2.10–2.30 non-GAAP EPS is well below the prior-year quarter, as memory supply constraints and pricing hit demand from Chinese handset OEMs.
• China exposure: A significant share of revenue comes from Chinese OEMs amid US–China trade and national-security tensions, leaving Qualcomm hostage to both export policy and Beijing's willingness to favour local suppliers.
• Data-centre execution risk: Dragonfly pits Qualcomm against entrenched giants (NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcom, Arm-based custom silicon) and requires heavy investment — Q2 FY2026 R&D was already up 11% year on year — with revenue contribution not expected to be material before FY2027–28.
• Vertical integration and licensing attrition: Key customers (Apple, Samsung, Chinese OEMs) increasingly design their own silicon, and QTL renewal economics face perennial legal and regulatory challenge, threatening the group's highest-margin income stream.

3. Business Segments

Segment	% of revenue	What it is
QCT (Qualcomm CDMA Technologies)	~87% (FY2025: $38.4bn)	Semiconductors: Snapdragon SoCs and modems for handsets ($27.8bn), IoT/PC/XR chips ($6.6bn) and automotive digital-cockpit/ADAS platforms ($4.0bn)
QTL (Qualcomm Technology Licensing)	~13% (FY2025: $5.6bn)	Licensing of the 3G/4G/5G patent portfolio to device makers, at a 72% EBT margin
QSI (Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives)	<1%	Venture-style strategic investments, excluded from non-GAAP results

Within QCT in FY2025: handsets 72%, IoT 17% and automotive 10% of segment revenue — with automotive the fastest-growing stream for the third consecutive year.

4. Business Model & Moat

How it makes money. Qualcomm sells chips (QCT) and rents out its intellectual property (QTL). QCT designs Snapdragon processors and modems manufactured by foundry partners and sold to phone, car and device makers. QTL licenses the wireless patent portfolio to virtually every handset OEM on the planet, collecting royalties per device largely independent of whose chip is inside.

Unit economics. QCT produced a 30% EBT margin in FY2025 on $38.4bn of revenue; QTL's 72% EBT margin on $5.6bn makes it the profit ballast. Group operating income was $12.4bn (28% margin), operating cash flow $14.0bn, and capex only $1.2bn — a fabless model whose cash conversion funds $12bn-plus of annual shareholder returns.

The moat. Three reinforcing layers: the deepest cellular patent estate in the industry (a legal toll-booth on 5G), premium-tier performance leadership in Snapdragon and the Oryon CPU architecture, and decade-long design-win pipelines in automotive (cockpit and ADAS sockets are sticky for a vehicle generation). The moat is narrower in data centre, where Qualcomm is the challenger, not the incumbent.

Capital allocation. Balanced and shareholder-friendly: FY2025 saw $8.8bn of buybacks and $3.8bn of dividends against $12.8bn of free cash flow, while bolt-on M&A (Alphawave Semi for connectivity IP, completed Dec 2025; Modular for AI software, announced Jun 2026 at $3.92bn) is aimed squarely at the data-centre push. Long-term debt is a manageable $14.8bn against $9.8bn of cash and marketable securities.

5. Financial Health

All figures from Qualcomm's earnings releases and SEC filings (10-K/10-Q, US GAAP; fiscal years end late September). Adjusted EPS is the company's non-GAAP diluted EPS.

Fiscal Year	Revenue ($m)	YoY %	GAAP EPS	Adjusted EPS	Dividend/share	Long-term debt (YE, $m)
FY2021	33,566	+43%	7.87	8.54	$2.66	13,701
FY2022	44,200	+32%	11.37	12.53	$2.86	13,537
FY2023	35,820	−19%	6.42	8.43	$3.10	14,484
FY2024	38,962	+9%	8.97	10.22	$3.30	13,270
FY2025	44,284	+14%	5.01¹	12.03	$3.48	14,811

¹ FY2025 GAAP EPS includes a $5.7bn (−$5.19/share) non-cash charge to establish a valuation allowance against US deferred tax assets following the One Big Beautiful Bill Act; it was excluded from non-GAAP results — and was largely reversed as a $5.7bn GAAP tax benefit in Q2 FY2026 when Treasury guidance changed.

Quarter	Revenue ($m)	Adjusted EPS	GAAP EPS
Q2 FY2026 (Mar 2026)	10,599	2.65	6.88²
Q1 FY2026 (Dec 2025)	12,252	3.50	2.78
Q4 FY2025 (Sep 2025)	11,270	3.00	(2.89)¹
Q3 FY2025 (Jun 2025)	10,366	2.77	2.43
Q2 FY2025 (Mar 2025)	10,979	2.85	2.52
Q1 FY2025 (Dec 2024)	11,669	3.41	2.83
FY2025 total	44,284	12.03	5.01

² Q2 FY2026 GAAP EPS includes the +$5.33/share benefit from releasing the FY2025 tax valuation allowance. Q1 FY2026 revenue of $12,252m was a company record.

Balance-sheet and cash-flow picture: FY2025 operating cash flow was $14.0bn (up from $12.2bn) against capex of $1.2bn; H1 FY2026 operating cash flow was $7.4bn. At 29 Mar 2026 the group held $9.8bn of cash and marketable securities against $15.3bn of total debt ($14.8bn long-term, $0.5bn short-term) — modest net debt of roughly $5.5bn, or well under half a year of free cash flow. Inventories rose to $7.4bn (from $6.5bn in September) as the company navigates memory supply constraints, and goodwill increased to $14.3bn reflecting the Alphawave Semi acquisition.

6. Valuation

Raw metrics, July 2026. Not opinions on whether the stock is cheap or expensive.

Metric	Value
Market cap	~$185.8bn (~1,054m shares × $176.25, 3 Jul 2026)
Enterprise value	~$191.2bn (market cap ~$185.8bn + total debt ~$15.3bn − cash & marketable securities ~$9.8bn, per 29 Mar 2026 balance sheet)
Trailing P/E (GAAP)	~19.2x ($176.25 / TTM GAAP EPS $9.20) — distorted by tax items that cut Q4 FY2025 by $5.29/sh and boosted Q2 FY2026 by $5.33/sh; on TTM non-GAAP EPS of $11.92 the multiple is ~14.8x
P/E (forward)	n/a — Qualcomm guides only one quarter ahead (Q3 FY2026 non-GAAP EPS $2.10–2.30), and ChartsView does not use analyst estimates
P/S (TTM)	~4.2x (market cap ~$185.8bn / TTM revenue ~$44.5bn)
EV/EBITDA (TTM)	~13.7x (EV ~$191.2bn / FY2025 EBITDA ~$14.0bn; EBITDA = operating income $12,355m + D&A $1,602m per FY2025 cash flow statement)
P/FCF	~14.5x (market cap ~$185.8bn / FCF ~$12.8bn; FCF = FY2025 operating cash flow $14,012m − capex $1,192m)
52-week high	$259.92
52-week low	$121.99
Short interest (% of float)	~4.7% (~44.6m shares short, early Jul 2026)
Days to cover	~2.0

7. Growth Drivers

Four engines matter from here. First, automotive: the Snapdragon Digital Chassis design-win pipeline is converting into revenue at pace (+36% in FY2025, record quarters continuing into FY2026), with sockets that persist for entire vehicle generations. Second, the data-centre pivot: the Dragonfly portfolio unveiled at the 24 Jun 2026 Investor Day — including a 250-core Oryon-based server CPU — plus anchor agreements with Meta and Microsoft and a hyperscaler custom-silicon engagement shipping later in 2026, targets more than $15bn of revenue by FY2029; the Alphawave (connectivity IP) and Modular (AI software) acquisitions supply key building blocks. Third, on-device and edge AI: the shift toward AI agents running locally favours Snapdragon's performance-per-watt across phones, PCs (Snapdragon X series) and industrial IoT. Fourth, licensing durability: QTL's per-device royalties give direct participation in every 5G (and eventually 6G) device cycle regardless of chip vendor. Management's stated ambition is $40bn of non-handset revenue by FY2029 — roughly quadruple the FY2025 automotive-plus-IoT base.

8. Peer Comparison

Peer	Market cap (Jul 2026)	Key 2025 metric
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)	~$4,719bn	TTM revenue ~$253.5bn — dominant AI accelerator incumbent Dragonfly must challenge
Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO)	~$1,715bn	TTM revenue ~$75.5bn — custom AI silicon and networking rival
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC)	~$604.9bn	TTM revenue ~$53.8bn — x86 server CPU incumbent
Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN)	~$266.7bn	TTM revenue ~$18.4bn — analogue/embedded comparator on auto exposure
MediaTek (TWSE: 2454)	~TWD6,696bn (~US$215bn)	TTM revenue ~TWD591.8bn — closest direct rival in smartphone SoCs

The gap is stark: Qualcomm's ~$186bn market value is a fraction of the AI-levered peers despite comparable profitability to many of them — the market is pricing handset maturity and awaiting proof of data-centre execution.

9. Insider Activity

Name	Date	Type	Shares	Price	Value	Plan Type
Cristiano Amon (President & CEO)	05 May 2026	Sale (family trust, open market)	10,000	$185.00	~$1.85m	Rule 10b5-1 (adopted 12 Dec 2025)

The Chief Executive's sale was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan through his family trust, which retained 207,568 shares afterwards — routine diversification rather than a signal. Beyond scheduled equity-award vesting and plan sales, no material insider buying or selling has been disclosed in recent months.

10. Key Risks

• Customer concentration (Competitive): A small number of OEMs drive revenue; Apple's transition to in-house modems and Samsung's Exynos push can remove billions of high-margin handset revenue over the next few years.
• China & geopolitics (Macro): Chinese OEMs are a major revenue source while US export controls tighten and Beijing promotes domestic silicon; escalation on either side would hit QCT volumes and QTL royalties simultaneously.
• Memory-supply shock (Operational): Management's Q3 FY2026 guidance explicitly embeds demand destruction from memory shortages and pricing at Chinese handset customers; a prolonged squeeze would keep the handset business in decline for several quarters.
• Data-centre execution (Strategic): The Dragonfly programme demands sustained R&D and acquisition spend against NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcom and hyperscalers' own chips; slippage on the 2026–2027 shipment milestones would undermine the $15bn FY2029 target and the investment case built on it.
• Licensing-model challenge (Regulatory): QTL's royalty structure has faced antitrust and contract challenges for a decade; an adverse ruling or a major licensee renegotiation would directly hit the group's highest-margin earnings stream.
• Cyclicality (Financial): FY2023's 19% revenue drop shows how quickly handset demand can swing; inventories of $7.4bn at March 2026 add write-down risk if end-demand disappoints.

11. Recent Developments

• 18 Dec 2025 — Alphawave Semi acquisition completed. Qualcomm closed the ~$2.3bn purchase of the high-speed connectivity IP specialist, an essential piece of the data-centre silicon roadmap.
• 04 Feb 2026 — Record Q1 FY2026. Revenue of $12.3bn (+5%) and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50 were both all-time records, with QCT revenue of $10.6bn and automotive topping $1bn for a second straight quarter.
• 29 Apr 2026 — Q2 FY2026 in line, guidance cut, $20bn buyback. Revenue of $10.6bn and non-GAAP EPS of $2.65 met guidance, the board authorised a new $20bn repurchase programme, but Q3 guidance of $9.2–10.0bn embedded memory-supply constraints, with China handset demand expected to bottom in the quarter.
• 24 Jun 2026 — Investor Day: Dragonfly data-centre push. Qualcomm unveiled the Dragonfly server CPU and AI-accelerator portfolio (including a 250-core Oryon CPU), announced the $3.92bn acquisition of AI-software firm Modular, named Meta and Microsoft as anchor hyperscaler partners, and raised its FY2029 non-handset revenue target to $40bn including more than $15bn from data centre.
• 02 Jul 2026 — Post-event pullback. The shares fell around 5% as investors weighed the margin dilution and execution risk of the multi-year data-centre investment cycle against near-term handset softness.

12. Key Dates

• 29 Jul 2026 — Q3 FY2026 results (scheduled; earnings call 1:45pm PT)
• 27 Sep 2026 — Fiscal year 2026 ends (52-week year)
• 04 Nov 2026 — Q4 and full-year FY2026 results expected (prior-year cadence: reported 5 Nov 2025)

Quarterly dividends are typically declared in October, January, April and July with payment the following quarter. Discuss QCOM with other members on the ChartsView Forum, and track semiconductor-sector catalysts on our Economic Calendar.

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Disclaimer: This research is produced by ChartsView for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. All information is sourced from publicly available company filings, press releases, and official data. ChartsView does not use analyst opinions or third-party ratings. Always conduct your own due diligence and consider your personal financial situation before making investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.