Qualcomm 3Q Revenue Falls as Handset Slowdown Offsets Automotive Gains

By Elias Schisgall

Qualcomm reported lower revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter as a sharp rise in automotive chip sales was offset by declining handset revenue.

The semiconductor company's fourth-quarter profit came in at $1.25 billion, or $1.17 a share. That compares with a loss of $3.12 billion, or $2.89 a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted earnings were $2.17 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $2.16 a share.

Revenue fell 8% to $10.32 billion, beating analyst expectations for $10.12 billion in revenue.

The Qualcomm CDMA Technologies segment, which includes sales of the company's chips, reported an 8% revenue decline to $9.02 billion. Within the segment, revenue from handsets fell 26% to $5.14 billion, while automotive revenue was up 89% at $1.99 billion. Internet of things revenue grew 4% to $1.89 billion.

Revenue from the Qualcomm Technology Licensing segment fell 7% to $1.3 billion.

Shares fell 4.9% to $164.78 in after-hours trading on Wednesday. The stock closed up 5.3% at $173.19, and had gained 1.3% year-to-date.

The results come as Qualcomm is pushing to expand into the fast-growing data-center market, with two custom-silicon programs set to ramp up in fiscal 2027. Chief Executive Cristiano Amon said the company continues to target $5 billion in data center revenue for the fiscal year.

"Fiscal 2027 marks the start of our non-handset revenue inflection, including the ramp of our Data Center business," Amon said.

For the current fiscal first quarter, Qualcomm is projecting adjusted earnings between $2.15 and $2.35 a share on revenue between $10.4 billion and $11.2 billion.

Analysts currently expect adjusted earnings of $2.26 a share on $10.49 billion of revenue for the first quarter.

Qualcomm's results came hours after the company was selected by SpaceX to supply cellular technology as it expands Starlink into the wireless market.

Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 04, 2026 16:23 ET (21:23 GMT)