US · Nasdaq · QCOM
Qualcomm (QCOM) stock analysis: valuation and financials
Technology · Radio And Television Broadcasting And Communications Equipment
$173.53 +0.8% Price as of Oct 19, 2026
Narrow-moat chip plus royalty franchise: 55.4% gross margin, $12.8B FY2025 FCF, net debt 0.42x EBITDA, yet 3-year revenue CAGR 0.1% and 19.7x P/E leave base-case upside of only 4.9% — hold.
- Market cap
- $182.2B
- P/E
- 19.7x
- EV/Sales
- 4.2x
- FCF yield
- 5.7%
- Dividend yield
- 2.1%
- 52-week range
- $124.07 – $251.02
- Next earnings
- Nov 4, 2026
Research as of Oct 20, 2026
Business quality scorecard
- Growth18
- Profitability64
- Cash flow83
- Balance sheet96
- Capital allocation85
- Innovation53
- Valuation68
0–100, computed from reported financials; higher is better, and a higher valuation score means cheaper.
How it makes money
Qualcomm sells Snapdragon and Dragonwing chipsets to handset, automotive and IoT device makers and licenses its cellular patent portfolio for per-unit royalties; QCT is the revenue engine at 87.3% of segment revenue, while QTL's roughly flat $5.6B of licensing carries the higher margin percentage.
Financials by year
| FY2021Oct 2020–Sep 2021 | FY2022Oct 2021–Sep 2022 | FY2023Oct 2022–Sep 2023 | FY2024Oct 2023–Sep 2024 | FY2025Oct 2024–Sep 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $33.6B | $44.2B | $35.8B | $39.0B | $44.3B |
| Revenue growth | +42.6% | +31.7% | -19.0% | +8.8% | +13.7% |
| Gross margin | 57.5% | 57.8% | 55.7% | 56.2% | 55.4% |
| Operating margin | 29.2% | 35.9% | 21.7% | 25.8% | 27.9% |
| Net income | $9.0B | $12.9B | $7.2B | $10.1B | $5.5B |
| Free cash flow | $8.6B | $6.8B | $9.8B | $11.2B | $12.8B |
| FCF margin | 25.8% | 15.5% | 27.5% | 28.6% | 28.9% |
Amounts in USD · What is free cash flow?
Margins Gross margin 55.4% in FY2025 versus 56.2% in FY2024 and 54.2% TTM (-0.8pp), sliding to 53.1% in Q3 FY2026; operating margin 27.9% in FY2025 and 23.2% TTM. The main cause is mix shifting away from high-margin QTL licensing toward QCT chips with rising product costs.
- Cash flow HealthyTTM operating cash flow $12.4B against net income $9.26B, cash conversion 1.64x; free cash flow $10.4B, a 23.6% margin, with capex only 4.5% of revenue.
- Debt LowNet debt $4.98B against total debt $13.28B and $8.30B of cash plus short-term investments; net debt/EBITDA 0.42x.
Balance sheet Leverage · Low
- Cash & short-term investments
- $8.3B
- Total debt
- $13.3B
- Net debt
- $5.0B
- Net debt / EBITDA
- 0.4x
- Interest coverage
- 14.8x
- Current ratio
- 2.0x
As of Jun 28, 2026 · Amounts in USD · How to read a balance sheet
Management and track record
- Management AdequateFive-year buybacks $22.4B equal ~45% of $49.3B cumulative FCF while SBC totaled $11.6B; diluted shares fell 1,149M to 1,105M.
- Credibility HighRevenue landed inside or above the guided range in all six quarters reviewed; Q3 FY2026 revenue $9.95B sat at the top of the $9.2B-$10.0B range.
Of 17 guided figures checked: 12 beat, 4 in range, 1 missed.
Valuation range
Implied value per share · Price when researched: $173.53
Each scenario assumes five years of revenue growth, an FCF margin and an exit multiple, discounted to today. The assumptions and sensitivities are in the full report.
The full report also covers
- Revenue, growth and outlook of each segment
- Moat and main competitors
- Key risks
- Capital allocation: where the free cash flow went
- What management promised, and what they delivered
- Scenario assumptions and sensitivities
- A source for every claim
- Ask AI about this company
The full report is for members.