Qualcomm Surpasses Q1 Earnings Estimates on Record Revenues

Qualcomm Incorporated QCOM reported strong first-quarter fiscal 2026 results, with record revenues driven by healthy demand trends in IoT and automotive businesses. Adjusted earnings exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate, led by the strength of its business model, diversification initiatives and its ability to respond proactively to the evolving market scenario. However, revenues missed the consensus estimate despite increasing year over year.Net IncomeOn a GAAP basis, net income in the December quarter was $3 billion or $2.78 per share compared with $3.18 billion or $2.83 per share in the prior-year quarter. Despite healthy revenue growth, the bottom line declined primarily due to higher operating costs. Non-GAAP net income for the reported quarter came in at $3.78 billion or $3.50 per share compared with $3.83 billion or $3.41 per share in the year-ago quarter. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11 cents.QUALCOMM Incorporated Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise QUALCOMM Incorporated price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | QUALCOMM Incorporated QuoteRevenuesTotal revenues in the fiscal first quarter were $12.25 billion, up from $11.67 billion in the year-ago quarter. The top line, however, missed the consensus mark of $12.28 billion. Qualcomm registered record automotive and handset revenues owing to solid momentum in the Snapdragon Digital Chassis platform and launches of flagship smartphones. Strength within the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) businesses also buoyed the top line.  Segment ResultsQuarterly revenues from Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) were $10.61 billion, up from $10.08 billion a year ago, as strength in the automotive platform, higher demand in handsets and Snapdragon chipset within the IoT business aided top-line growth. The company witnessed solid market traction in the EDGE networking business that helps transform connectivity in cars, business enterprises, homes, smart factories, next-generation PCs, wearables and tablets. Automotive revenues rose 15% to a record high of $1.1 billion, driven by increased content in new vehicle launches with its Snapdragon Digital Chassis platform, with automakers deploying high-performance, low-power computing and connectivity chips to bring next-generation experience to consumers. Handset revenues jumped 3% to $7.82 billion, led by healthy traction in premium Android handsets enabled by broad OEM adoption for dual flagship products and transition toward AI-native smartphones. IoT revenues were up 9% to $1.69 billion on solid demand across consumer and networking products. EBT margin for the QCT segment declined marginally to 31% from 32%.Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL) revenues totaled $1.59 billion, up 4% year over year, with EBT margin increasing to 77% from 75%.Cash Flow & LiquidityQualcomm generated $4.96 billion of net cash from operating activities in the reported quarter compared with $4.59 billion a year ago. As of Dec. 28, 2025, the company had $7.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents with $14.82 billion of long-term debt. The company repurchased 15 million shares during the quarter for $2.6 billion.GuidanceFor the second quarter of fiscal 2026, Qualcomm expects GAAP revenues of $10.2-$11 billion due to reduced chip orders and near-term uncertainty in memory supply and pricing for handset OEMs. Non-GAAP earnings are projected to be $2.45-$2.65 per share, while GAAP earnings are likely to be $1.69-$1.89 per share. Revenues from QTL are expected to be between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion. For QCT, the company anticipates revenues between $8.8 billion and $9.4 billion, with constrained handset revenues of about $6 billion, solid automotive revenues (up nearly 35% year over year) and healthy IoT revenues (up low teens percentage).Zacks RankQualcomm currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Upcoming ReleasesArista Networks Inc. ANET is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2025 earnings on Feb. 12. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 75 cents per share, suggesting growth of 15.4% from the year-ago reported figure.Arista has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 20.1%. Arista delivered an average earnings surprise of 10.2% in the last four reported quarters.Akamai Technologies, Inc. AKAM is slated to release fourth-quarter 2025 earnings on Feb. 19. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.75 per share, indicating 5.4% growth from the year-ago reported figure.Akamai has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 6%. Akamai delivered an average earnings surprise of 10.5% in the last four reported quarters.Pinterest, Inc. PINS is set to release fourth-quarter 2025 earnings on Feb. 12. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 67 cents per share, implying growth of 19.6% from the year-ago reported figure.Pinterest has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 27.7%. Pinterest delivered an average negative earnings surprise of 6.8% in the last four reported quarters.Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. 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(PINS): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks