Qualcomm Tops Estimates at $10.32 Billion in Revenue and $2.17 Adjusted EPS

Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of $10.32 billion, above the $10.15 billion analysts expected, and adjusted EPS of $2.17 against the $2.16 average analyst estimate, in an 8-K filed Wednesday, Nov. 4. Revenue fell 8% from a year earlier. GAAP diluted EPS was $1.17, against a loss of $2.89 a year earlier.

For the full fiscal year, GAAP revenue was $43.12 billion, down 3%, and adjusted EPS was $10.54, compared with the $10.52 consensus. GAAP EPS of $12.70 included a $5.7 billion income tax benefit, or $5.32 per share, from the release of a valuation allowance.

Handsets fell while automotive grew

QCT revenue was $9.02 billion, down 8%. Handset revenue fell 26% to $5.14 billion. Automotive revenue reached a record $1.99 billion, up 89%, and IoT revenue rose 4% to $1.89 billion. QTL licensing revenue was $1.30 billion, down 7%.

The company said it renewed long-term QTL license agreements with Apple, Huawei and Transsion, and announced a multi-generational product collaboration with Amazon for AI data centers.

Guidance and capital returns

For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Qualcomm guided revenue to $10.4 billion to $11.2 billion, against the $10.56 billion analyst consensus for the quarter ending Dec. 31. Non-GAAP diluted EPS guidance is $2.15 to $2.35, compared with the $2.29 consensus. The company said it expects the full benefit of its input-cost pricing actions to show up in QCT gross margins in the second half of fiscal 2027.

Qualcomm reiterated its fiscal 2027 Data Center revenue target of $5 billion and projected non-handset revenues to grow by more than 60% year over year.

During the fourth quarter, the company repurchased 6 million shares for $1.01 billion and paid a dividend of $0.92 per share, a total of $987 million. For the fiscal year, total returns to stockholders were $11.67 billion.