QUALCOMM INC/DE (QCOM) Company Report

Surge in AI data-center demand is creating a high-bandwidth memory shortage, threatening a “great memory crunch” and capping smartphone production.
Qualcomm posted $12.25 B in fiscal Q1 revenue (ended Dec. 29, 2025), a 5% YoY increase, narrowly beating the $12.21 B consensus, but shares fell over 9% pre-market after issuing guidance tied to memory constraints.
Industry insiders warn the shortage will make electronics purchases harder and pricier, as chipmakers prioritize higher-end AI and data-center customers over conventional devices.
Analysts at Goldman and CFRA, along with MediaTek and Intel executives, caution the memory shortfall is real, accelerating, and likely to persist, potentially slowing smartphone and PC growth.

2 days ago

Barron's

Qualcomm reports Q1 2026 results

QCOM

Earnings

Guidance Update

Demand Weakening

Delivered record revenues of $12.3 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50 in Q1 FY2026.
QCT segment achieved record revenues of $10.6 billion, with handset revenues of $7.8 billion, IoT up 9% YoY to $1.7 billion, and automotive up 15% YoY to $1.1 billion.
Handset sales outlook constrained by industry-wide DRAM shortages due to AI data center demand, leading to conservative Q2 QCT handset revenue guidance of $6 billion.
Q2 FY2026 guidance: total revenues $10.2 billion–$11 billion, non-GAAP EPS $2.45–$2.65, QTL revenues $1.2 billion–$1.4 billion, and QCT revenues $8.8 billion–$9.4 billion.
Returned $3.6 billion to shareholders in Q1, including $2.6 billion in share repurchases and $949 million in dividends.

2 days ago

Transcript

Qualcomm reports Q1 2026 results

QCOM

Earnings

Guidance Update

Share Buyback

Record Q1 revenue and EPS: Total revenue of $12.3 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50, both all-time highs.
QCT segment strength: QCT revenue of $10.6 billion, including handset $7.8 billion, IoT $1.7 billion (+9% YoY) and automotive $1.1 billion (+15% YoY).
Licensing and capital returns: Licensing revenue of $1.6 billion with a 77% EBT margin; returned $3.6 billion to shareholders via $2.6 billion in buybacks and $949 million in dividends.
Q2 guidance: Forecasting $10.2–11 billion in revenue and $2.45–2.65 EPS; QCT handset revenue around $6 billion and automotive growth >35% YoY.
Memory supply headwind: DRAM availability is expected to limit handset industry scale through FY 2026 as capacity shifts to AI data centers.

2 days ago

Transcript

Qualcomm reports record Q1 fiscal 2026 results

QCOM

Earnings

Guidance Update

Share Buyback

Record Q1 fiscal 2026 total revenues of $12.3 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $3.50
Record segment performance: QCT revenues of $10.6 billion (handset $7.8 billion; IoT $1.7 billion, +9% YoY; automotive $1.1 billion, +15% YoY) and QTL licensing revenues of $1.6 billion with a 77% EBT margin
Due to industry-wide DRAM shortages, handset OEMs are reducing chipset orders; Q2 guidance: revenue $10.2–11.0 billion, non-GAAP EPS $2.45–2.65, and QCT handset revenues ~$6 billion
Returned $3.6 billion to shareholders in Q1, including $2.6 billion in share repurchases and $949 million in dividends

2 days ago

Transcript

Qualcomm announces Q1 2026 results

QCOM

Earnings

Guidance Update

Share Buyback

Record Q1 revenue of $12.25 billion, GAAP EPS of $2.78, and Non-GAAP EPS of $3.50 for the quarter ended December 28, 2025.
QCT segment delivered $10.6 billion in revenues (+5%), including $1.10 billion in automotive revenue (+15%), while QTL revenues reached $1.59 billion (+4%).
Completed the acquisition of Alphawave IP Group plc to accelerate expansion into the data center market.
Returned $3.6 billion to stockholders in Q1 FY 2026, including $949 million in dividends and $2.6 billion in share repurchases (15 million shares).
Provided Q2 FY 2026 guidance of $10.2–11.0 billion in revenues and Non-GAAP EPS of $2.45–2.65, factoring in memory supply constraints.

2 days ago

8-K

Qualcomm collaborates on Rakuten Mobile Open RAN mMIMO deployment

QCOM

Product Launch

New Projects/Investments

Qualcomm partners with Rakuten Mobile and 1Finity to deploy massive MIMO Open RAN radios using the Dragonwing QRU100 platform at scale in Rakuten Mobile’s fully virtualized, cloud-native network in Japan this year.
The 1Finity mMIMO O-RUs leverage advanced beamforming and spatial multiplexing to significantly boost network capacity, coverage, and energy efficiency through O-RAN open fronthaul integration with Rakuten Symphony’s CU and DU.
Rakuten Mobile will deploy the 1Finity 32A37 mMIMO O-RU operating at 3.7 GHz, complementing its existing 44R21 Open RAN radios for expanded coverage.
Qualcomm emphasizes that the Dragonwing QRU100 platform enables operators to achieve greater capacity, coverage, and cost efficiency in 5G infrastructure deployments.

4 days ago

Press Release

QCI achieves record growth with 100 new customer engagements in 2025

QCOM

Product Launch

Revenue Acceleration/Inflection

QCI closed 2025 with 100 new customer engagements across hundreds of properties and delivered over 40% compound annual growth in gaming, hospitality, and tribal markets.
The November 2024 launch of Chatalytics™ was adopted by more than 400 properties in its first year, marking QCI’s most successful product debut.
Adoption extended across QCI’s broader platform—VizExplorer, QCI Player, QCI Customer, and the AGI56 framework—underscoring a multi-product, multi-market growth trajectory.
Geographic expansion covered North America, Australia, Canada, and Asia, with QCI entering 2026 on the back of sustained inbound demand and expanding enterprise partnerships.

Jan 28, 2026, 7:37 PM

Press Release

Qualcomm unveils Dragonwing IQ10 and Snapdragon X2 Plus at CES 2026

QCOM

Product Launch

New Projects/Investments

At CES 2026, Qualcomm broadened its addressable market beyond smartphones by launching the Snapdragon X2 Plus for Windows laptops, claiming up to 35% faster peak performance, 43% lower power and an 80 TOPS NPU for multiday battery life.
The Dragonwing IQ10 Series robotics platform delivers about 350 dense TOPS via an on-chip NPU paired with an 18-core CPU/GPU, plus safety and error-correction features, supporting over 20 cameras as well as lidar and radar for AI/LLM workloads.
Qualcomm introduced companion Dragonwing chips (Q17790 and Q18750) for connected video and edge devices and showcased reference robots from partners like VinMotion and Advantech to accelerate real-world deployment.
These launches support Qualcomm’s strategy to diversify revenue beyond its smartphone-focused QCT segment while expanding automotive initiatives and cloud-native developer tooling.

Jan 5, 2026, 3:21 PM

Bloomberg

Qualcomm launches robotics comprehensive-stack architecture with Dragonwing IQ10

QCOM

Product Launch

New Projects/Investments

Qualcomm unveils next-generation Physical AI robotics architecture and the Dragonwing IQ10 Series processor, delivering high-performance, energy-efficient compute for general-purpose robots and humanoids.
The end-to-end stack integrates hardware, software, and compound AI to enable scalable, safety-grade robotics applications across retail, logistics, and manufacturing.
Qualcomm builds a robotics ecosystem with partners including Advantech, APLUX, AutoCore, Booster, Figure, Kuka Robotics, Robotec.ai, and VinMotion to accelerate deployment-ready solutions.
At CES, the company showcased VinMotion’s Motion 2 humanoid (IQ9 Series), Booster’s K1 Geek, and Advantech’s robotics development kit, highlighting real-world automation use cases.

Jan 5, 2026, 2:00 PM

Press Release

Qualcomm completes acquisition of Alphawave Semi

QCOM

M&A

New Projects/Investments

Qualcomm has completed the acquisition of Alphawave IP Group plc approximately one quarter ahead of schedule.
The deal integrates Alphawave’s high-speed wired connectivity technologies with Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU and Hexagon NPU processors.
Tony Pialis, Alphawave’s co-founder and CEO, will lead Qualcomm’s newly formed data center business.
The acquisition bolsters Qualcomm’s position in AI compute and connectivity solutions for data centers and other high-growth markets.