# Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM)

> Qualcomm designs chips for phones, cars, connected devices and data centers, and earns royalties when manufacturers use its wireless patents.

- Exchange: Nasdaq · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors
- Headquarters: San Diego, California
- Founded: 1985 (10-K)
- Employees: approximately 52,000 (September 28, 2025)
- SEC CIK: 0000804328 ([filings on EDGAR](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000804328))
- Full page: https://inspectstocks.com/stocks/qcom
- Data as of: price 2026-09-25; newest filing used 2026-07-29; latest fiscal period ended 2026-06-28

## Grade

**C+** on the growth-and-cash rubric, 3 of 5 checks passed.

| Check | Result | Now | Before |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Revenue growing overall | passed | $44.1B | $38.6B |
| Revenue growing recently | failed | $44.1B | $44.3B |
| Free cash flow positive | passed | $10.4B |  |
| Free cash flow growing overall | passed | $10.4B | $6.9B |
| Free cash flow growing recently | failed | $10.4B | $12.8B |

Business quality (the + / − mark): 6 of 6 checks passed.

| Check | Result | Now | Before |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Profitable | passed | 21.0% |  |
| Healthy profit margin | passed | 21.0% |  |
| Strong operating margin | passed | 23.2% |  |
| Good return on equity | passed | 43.7% |  |
| Debt under control | passed | 0.74 |  |
| Turns sales into cash | passed | 23.6% |  |

How the grade works: the letter counts failed checks (none → A, one → B, two → C, three → D, four or more → F). It is built from SEC filings only — the share price never enters it — and describes the business, not whether the stock is worth buying.

## Key figures

In US dollars, as filed.

| Measure | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Revenue, trailing twelve months | $44.1B |
| Net income, trailing twelve months | $9.3B |
| Free cash flow, trailing twelve months | $10.4B |
| Net margin | 21.0% |
| Operating margin | 23.2% |
| Return on equity | 43.7% |
| Debt to equity | 0.74 |
| Diluted EPS, trailing twelve months | $8.75 |
| Share price | $201.97 |
| Market value | $212.1B |
| Price / earnings | 23.1x |
| Price / sales | 4.8x |

## What the business does

Qualcomm designs chips and related software that help devices compute and connect, including smartphones, cars and Internet of Things (IoT) equipment. It earns money by selling chips and by licensing patents used in wireless devices; licensees generally pay royalties based on their product sales. It also makes strategic investments and has a data-center business that has begun generating some sales while developing additional chips and software.

### How it makes money

- **Handset chipsets** (51.1% (Q3 fiscal 2026 ended June 28, 2026)) — Qualcomm sells processors, cellular modems and related components to smartphone manufacturers, which order products for use in their devices.
- **Automotive chips and systems** (16.0% (Q3 fiscal 2026 ended June 28, 2026)) — Automakers and suppliers buy computing and connectivity products for vehicle displays, in-car systems and driver-assistance features.
- **Internet of Things chips** (18.4% (Q3 fiscal 2026 ended June 28, 2026)) — Manufacturers buy chips for consumer electronics, industrial equipment and networking products.
- **Patent licensing** (12.8% (Q3 fiscal 2026 ended June 28, 2026)) — Device makers pay royalties, usually quarterly, based on sales of products that use Qualcomm-licensed patents.

### Products

- **Snapdragon mobile chipsets** — Processors and cellular modems, often sold with other wireless and power components, for smartphones and other mobile devices.
- **Snapdragon Digital Chassis** — Automotive computing and connectivity products used for in-car displays and services, vehicle connections, and driver-assistance systems.
- **Dragonwing products** — Chips and software for industrial equipment and network products, including wireless access points and broadband gateways.
- **Radio-frequency front-end components** — Components that manage a device’s radio signals between its modem and antenna, including transmit and receive modules and power amplifiers.
- **Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and networking chips** — Chips and software that connect devices to one another and to home, business and broadband networks.
- **Data-center chips** — Products in development include custom chips, artificial-intelligence accelerators and server processors; the company also described a high-bandwidth-compute design that combines computing with high-density memory.

### Customers

- Smartphone makers, including Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi, buy chipsets and, where applicable, license Qualcomm patents.
- Other manufacturers of wireless devices buy Qualcomm chips and may license its patents for the products they sell.
- Automakers and automotive suppliers, including BMW and Stellantis, work with Qualcomm on vehicle computing and connectivity products.
- Makers of consumer electronics, industrial equipment and networking gear buy chips for connected products.
- United States government agencies and their contractors buy products and development services from Qualcomm’s government business.

### Competitors

- Apple (AAPL) — Develops its own modem and other chips for some devices, competing with Qualcomm’s mobile components.
- Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) — Its Exynos chip business competes in processors and connectivity components for mobile devices.
- NVIDIA (NVDA) — Competes in automotive computing and data-center computing products.
- Broadcom (AVGO) — Competes in wireless and networking chips and custom silicon.

### What it depends on

- Most chip production uses outside foundries and assembly and testing companies; named foundry suppliers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung Electronics and GlobalFoundries.
- A small number of customers and licensees account for a notable share of sales: Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi each made up at least 10% of consolidated revenue in fiscal 2025.
- Patent-licensing revenue depends on device makers selling products that use cellular and other licensed technologies, and on license agreements continuing or being renewed.
- The company reports significant business concentration in China and exposure to changes in United States–China trade and national-security policies.

### What could go wrong

- Revenue depends in part on a small group of customers and licensees and their sales of premium smartphones; some large customers are also developing their own chips.
- Dependence on a limited number of outside manufacturers and suppliers exposes chip production to capacity limits, higher input costs and interruptions to manufacturing, assembly or testing.
- Government investigations, court cases or disputes with licensees could require changes to patent-licensing practices or affect royalty collection.

## More on this company

- [Overview](https://inspectstocks.com/stocks/qcom)
- [Financial statements](https://inspectstocks.com/stocks/qcom/financials)
- [Competitors](https://inspectstocks.com/stocks/qcom/peers)
- [Earnings](https://inspectstocks.com/stocks/qcom/earnings)

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Source: InspectStocks, built from the company’s own SEC filings. This describes a business — it is not investment advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell anything.