QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) Issues Earnings Results

QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The wireless technology company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.38 by $0.12, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $12.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.16 billion. QUALCOMM had a return on equity of 43.08% and a net margin of 11.96%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.41 earnings per share. QUALCOMM updated its Q2 2026 guidance to 2.450-2.650 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from QUALCOMM’s conference call:

• Record fiscal Q1 results — total revenue of $12.3 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50, with record QCT revenue of $10.6 billion driven by flagship handsets and strength in automotive and IoT.
• Qualcomm warns the handset industry will be constrained by memory availability and rising DRAM prices as capacity shifts to HBM for AI data centers, causing OEMs to cut chipset inventory and guiding Q2 handset revenues at roughly $6 billion.
• Strong automotive and IoT momentum — QCT automotive revenue reached a record $1.1 billion (up 15% YoY), Qualcomm signed a letter of intent with Volkswagen Group, reported 10 Snapdragon Elite design wins, and expects Q2 automotive growth >35% YoY.
• Progress on data-center strategy and roadmap — completed acquisitions of Alphawave and Ventana, advancing a RISC-V CPU and a power-efficient inference/memory architecture with encouraging hyperscaler engagements and expected revenue contributions starting in fiscal 2027.
• Shareholder returns — Qualcomm returned $3.6 billion this quarter, including $2.6 billion in share repurchases and $949 million in dividends.

QUALCOMM Price Performance

QUALCOMM stock traded down $0.74 on Friday, reaching $135.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,806,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,346,043. QUALCOMM has a twelve month low of $120.80 and a twelve month high of $205.95. The company has a market cap of $144.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.02, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.82. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $167.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.06.

QUALCOMM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. QUALCOMM’s payout ratio is presently 72.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on QCOM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on QUALCOMM from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of QUALCOMM in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of QUALCOMM from $157.00 to $134.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lowered shares of QUALCOMM from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of QUALCOMM from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Insider Activity at QUALCOMM

In other QUALCOMM news, EVP Ann C. Chaplin sold 7,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.03, for a total value of $1,278,255.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,262,750.32. This trade represents a 23.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 513 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.95, for a total transaction of $82,567.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,672.85. This represents a 71.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 39,684 shares of company stock worth $7,004,088 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QUALCOMM

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its holdings in QUALCOMM by 120.1% in the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,152,866 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $502,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,529 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in QUALCOMM by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 4,418,406 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $703,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641,068 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in QUALCOMM by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 12,671,635 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $2,136,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,541 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of QUALCOMM by 228.6% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,130,038 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $179,970,000 after buying an additional 786,110 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of QUALCOMM by 233.7% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 371,423 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $61,790,000 after buying an additional 260,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.35% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting QUALCOMM

Here are the key news stories impacting QUALCOMM this week:

• Positive Sentiment: QCOM beat quarterly expectations (EPS and revenue) and reported strength in automotive/IoT, which supports the company’s longer-term diversification story. MarketBeat: QCOM earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators point to strong cash flows and record non-handset revenue lines that could limit downside over time if handset weakness is temporary. Zacks: Qualcomm surpasses Q1 estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Management says the issue is a memory supply constraint (not demand), which frames the weakness as a supply‑side timing problem rather than permanent demand loss. Investors will watch whether memory supply tightness eases. Bloomberg / YouTube: CEO — memory, not demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical and options commentary notes Qualcomm is deeply oversold after the post‑earnings drop, so short‑term relief rallies are possible even if fundamentals stay challenged. Invezz: memory problem may be overstated
• Negative Sentiment: Q2 guidance missed consensus: EPS guide of $2.45–2.65 (below street) and revenue guide $10.2B–$11.0B (below consensus ~ $11.1B). Management tied the miss to a global memory shortage that will constrain handset builds, which is the primary reason the stock is down. Reuters: memory shortage hits outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts reacted with cuts and rating changes (Bank of America trimmed to neutral, Evercore and others lowered targets), and media coverage emphasized the sharp post‑earnings selloff — amplifying near‑term downward pressure. MSN: BofA resets QCOM target
• Negative Sentiment: Broad headlines (CNBC, Yahoo, MarketWatch) framed the report as a cautionary signal for smartphones and the chip supply chain, triggering heavy selling and headlines like “shares getting obliterated” that worsen sentiment even where fundamentals are mixed. Yahoo Finance: why shares are getting obliterated

About QUALCOMM

QUALCOMM Incorporated is a global semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 1985, the company is known for its development of wireless technologies and for playing a central role in the evolution of digital cellular standards, including CDMA and subsequent generations of mobile standards. Qualcomm’s business combines the design and sale of semiconductor products with a patent licensing program for wireless technologies and related intellectual property.

The company’s product portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) platforms marketed under the Snapdragon brand, cellular modem and RF front-end components, connectivity solutions for Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth, and processors and platforms aimed at automotive, IoT, networking and edge-computing applications.