Qualcomm (QCOM)
Information Technology · $207B market cap · SEC CIK 0000804328
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Nov 3, 2026, after the close, with analysts expecting $2.20 in earnings per share.
The case for QCOM
- Earns 37% back on shareholder equity.
- Generated $12.8B of free cash flow in FY2025, 29% of revenue.
- 21% of revenue drops through to net profit.
- Pays a 2.5% dividend while you wait.
- Has compounded revenue at 15.3% a year over five years.
- Current assets cover the near-term bills 2.0 times over.
The case against
- Priced at 22.3× earnings while earnings per share are shrinking (-16.6%).
- Earnings per share fell 16.6%.
- Swings harder than the market (beta 1.72).
- Revenue grew only 1.9%, roughly the pace of inflation.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Information Technology companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 66 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 37 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 73 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 49 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 54 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 73 Information Technology companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 22.3× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 7.19× |
| Price / sales | 4.7× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +1.9% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -16.6% |
| Gross margin | 54% |
| Operating margin | 23% |
| Net margin | 21% |
| Return on equity | 37% |
| Debt / equity | 0.55× |
| Current ratio | 2.02 |
| Dividend yield | 2.50% |
| Beta | 1.72 |
| 52-week range | $121.99 – $259.92 |
| Position in that range | 55% of the way up |
| 3-month return | -14.1% |
| 1-year return | +16.4% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Qualcomm's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $44.3B | $39.0B | $35.8B | $44.2B | $33.6B |
| Operating income | $12.4B | $10.1B | $7.8B | $15.9B | $9.8B |
| Net income | $5.5B | $10.1B | $7.2B | $12.9B | $9.0B |
| Operating cash flow | $14.0B | $12.2B | $11.3B | $9.1B | $10.5B |
| Capital expenditure | $1.2B | $1.0B | $1.4B | $2.3B | $1.9B |
| Total assets | $53.0B | $55.6B | $52.1B | $50.0B | $42.8B |
| Total liabilities | $30.0B | $28.7B | $29.1B | $31.2B | $31.5B |
| Cash | $7.2B | $8.7B | $8.1B | $4.8B | $6.6B |
| Long-term debt | $14.8B | $13.2B | $14.6B | $15.4B | $13.7B |
| Free cash flow | $12.8B | $11.2B | $9.8B | $6.8B | $8.6B |
| Operating margin | 27.9% | 25.8% | 21.7% | 35.9% | 29.2% |
| Net margin | 12.5% | 26.0% | 20.2% | 29.3% | 26.9% |
| Diluted shares | 1.1B | 1.1B | 1.1B | 1.1B | 1.1B |
Share count is down 3.8% over 4 years. Buybacks have been shrinking the pie.
What Qualcomm says it does
" of this Annual Report. Seasonality. Many of our products and much of our intellectual property are incorporated into consumer wireless devices, which are subject to seasonality and other fluctuations in demand. Our revenues have historically fluctuated based on consumer demand for devices, as well as on the timing of customer/licensee device launches and/or innovation cycles (such as the transition to the next generation of wireless technologies). This has resulted in fluctuations in QCT revenues in advance of and during device launches incorporating our products (for example, certain major handset OEMs accelerated their premium-tier device launches into the first quarter of fiscal 2025) and in QTL revenues when licensees’ sales occur. These trends may or may not continue in the future. Further, the trends for QTL have been, and may in the future be, impacted by disputes and/or resolutions with licensees and/or governmental…
Risk factors QCOM lists in its 10-K
- A significant portion of our business is concentrated in China, and the risks of such concentration are exacerbated by U.S./China trade and national security tensions."
- Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities (including restricted cash)
- Impairment of Non-marketable Equity Investments
- Impairment of Goodwill, Other Indefinite-Lived Assets and Long-Lived Assets
- Conclusion Regarding the Effectiveness of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
- Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
- Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013)
- Inherent Limitations over Internal Controls
- Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
- Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
- Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting
- Internal Control - Integrated Framework
- Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting
- Revenue Recognition – Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) Segment