Qualcomm (QCOM)
Forward P/E is 19.76x against a peer median of 26.81x, a ratio of 0.74x, and the trailing P/E of 21.24x is also far below the peer trailing figures in the brief (median about 50x), so the discount exists on earnings already delivered and not only on forecasts. Against that, latest-quarter revenue fell -4.0% year over year (PRIMARY/EDGAR) while the semiconductor cluster median rose +36.5%, and the PEG ratio of 3.22 is high, meaning little earnings growth is expected — the discount is partly earned by weak current growth. Revenue at -4.0% is falling, not collapsing, so the ratio test for UNDERVALUED is met, but this is a low-conviction version of the label. Delivered demand check: the cluster's median revenue growth was +36.5% year over year — demand rising in the cluster, which Qualcomm is not currently matching.
What would change this label: Move to FAIRLY PRICED if revenue growth stays negative for another quarter while the forward P/E rises above about 24.1x (0.90x the current peer median of 26.81x), or if the PEG stays above 3 while growth remains below 0% year over year. The UNDERVALUED label strengthens if revenue growth returns above +10% year over year while the forward P/E stays at or below 19.76x.
Qualcomm makes the chips and holds many of the patents inside mobile phones. Its sales fell about 4% over the past year while other chip companies grew strongly, and its shares cost about 20 times expected profits compared with about 27 times for its group. The shares look cheaper than their group, but that is partly because the business is currently shrinking — this is a weaker 'undervalued' than a company that is both cheap and growing.
Both lines start at 100 on 2020-09-01. Over the full window Qualcomm returned +50.95% and the S&P 500 +118.28% (price returns; dividends not reinvested). Worst peak-to-trough fall for Qualcomm: -45.6% (2021-12-15 to 2023-05-24). Source: Nasdaq official daily history.
What the label rests on
Forward P/E is 19.76x against a peer median of 26.81x, a ratio of 0.74x, and the trailing P/E of 21.24x is also far below the peer trailing figures in the brief (median about 50x), so the discount exists on earnings already delivered and not only on forecasts. Against that, latest-quarter revenue fell -4.0% year over year (PRIMARY/EDGAR) while the semiconductor cluster median rose +36.5%, and the PEG ratio of 3.22 is high, meaning little earnings growth is expected — the discount is partly earned by weak current growth. Revenue at -4.0% is falling, not collapsing, so the ratio test for UNDERVALUED is met, but this is a low-conviction version of the label. Delivered demand check: the cluster's median revenue growth was +36.5% year over year — demand rising in the cluster, which Qualcomm is not currently matching. The company’s forward P/E is 19.8× against a peer median of 26.8×. Its own history: UNVERIFIED — no sourced range available. Sector demand read: Delivered demand check: the Semiconductors group's median latest-quarter revenue growth was +36.5% year over year (SEC filings) — demand rising. Latest-quarter sales growth was -4.0% versus a year earlier (SEC filings).
| Company | Price (Oct 28, 2026) | Forward P/E | Trailing P/E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualcomm (QCOM) | $182.56 | 19.8× | 21.2× |
| ADI | $421.45 | 26.3× | 50.0× |
| MRVL | $247.88 | 43.9× | 83.3× |
| TXN | $306.04 | 26.8× | 39.7× |
| NXPI | $253.50 | 14.4× | 19.9× |
| MPWR | $1,211.89 | 37.5× | 73.9× |
| Peer median | 26.8× |
Multiples: stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026. Peer set chosen by sector; the median is the middle value of the set. The label and its numbers were recorded in the programme’s label registry on Oct 28, 2026 and will be scored at 6 and 12 months.
Sales, profit and cash
This company does not report a gross-profit line in its SEC facts (normal for banks, payment networks and some health insurers), so profit is shown as net income instead — gross margin is marked UNVERIFIED-absent rather than estimated.
Free cash flow = cash from operations minus spending on plant and equipment, both from the company’s SEC cash-flow statement. Gaps are quarters where that spending line is not separately tagged in the filings — shown as gaps, never estimated.
| Quarter | Sales | Gross margin | Net income | EPS (GAAP, diluted) | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q/E Jun 2026 2026-06-28 | $9.9B | — | $2.0B | 1.87 | $495M |
| Q/E Mar 2026 2026-03-29 | $10.6B | — | $7.4B | 6.88 | $1.9B |
| Q/E Dec 2025 2025-12-28 | $12.3B | — | $3.0B | 2.78 | $4.4B |
| Q/E Sep 2025 2025-09-28 | $11.3B | — | $-3.1B | — | $3.6B |
| Q/E Jun 2025 2025-06-29 | $10.4B | — | $2.7B | 2.43 | $2.6B |
| Q/E Mar 2025 2025-03-30 | $11.0B | — | $2.8B | 2.52 | $2.3B |
| Q/E Dec 2024 2024-12-29 | $11.7B | — | $3.2B | 2.83 | $4.3B |
| Q/E Sep 2024 2024-09-29 | $10.2B | — | $2.9B | — | $2.4B |
| Q/E Jun 2024 2024-06-23 | $9.4B | — | $2.1B | 1.88 | $2.7B |
| Q/E Mar 2024 2024-03-24 | $9.4B | — | $2.3B | 2.06 | $3.4B |
| Q/E Dec 2023 2023-12-24 | $9.9B | — | $2.8B | 2.46 | $2.7B |
| Q/E Sep 2023 2023-09-24 | $8.6B | — | $1.5B | — | $3.8B |
The last twelve reported quarters. Full 24-quarter history sits in the data pack behind this page. A dash means the figure is not tagged as a standalone quarter in the company’s SEC facts (the usual case is the fourth quarter, which many companies only report inside the full-year filing) — it is missing, not zero.
Earnings: getting better or worse?
Each box is one quarter’s earnings per share (EPS). Green means EPS was higher than the same quarter a year earlier; red means lower; a dash means the figure is not tagged in the filings.
Basis: GAAP diluted EPS from SEC company facts, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Key facts
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Company (legal name in filings) | QUALCOMM INC/DE |
| Chief executive | Cristiano Amon (source: https://kalkine.com/news/announcements/cristiano-amon-receives-65704-qualcomm-rsus-in-october-2026) |
| Sector | Technology — Semiconductors — sells wireless and mobile chipsets and licenses mobile communications patents |
| Share price (Oct 28, 2026) | $182.56 |
| Market value (market cap) | $193.4B — share price times shares outstanding of 1,050,000,000 (SEC filings; SEC EDGAR dei EntityCommonStockSharesOutstanding (latest)) |
| Sales, last twelve months | $44.1B |
| Net income, last twelve months | $9.3B |
| Free cash flow, last twelve months | $10.4B |
| Latest reported quarter | Q/E Jun 2026 (of 24 quarters in the data pack) |
| Six-year price return vs S&P 500 | +50.95% vs +118.28% |
| Worst peak-to-trough fall | -45.6% (2021-12-15 to 2023-05-24) |
What we could not verify
- Gross profit / gross margin: not tagged as a standalone line in this company's EDGAR company facts (common for banks, payment networks and some healthcare payers) — shown as UNVERIFIED-absent; the page charts revenue and net income instead.
- TTM GAAP diluted EPS could not be summed from company facts because at least one of the last four quarters (typically Q4) has no standalone tagged EPS; trailing P/E is therefore taken from the labelled secondary source in valuation_label.md.
- Own-history P/E range not yet compiled for this company in the Phase 1 batch run; the label rests on peer-median, growth and PEG evidence.
- Growth divergence is material and unresolved in the brief: Qualcomm's latest-quarter revenue growth (-4.0% year over year) is far below its semiconductor cluster median (+36.5%), and the brief contains no segment breakdown to explain the gap.
- Guidance record (each quarter scored against the guidance the company gave the quarter before) is not yet compiled for this company — it is a Phase 2 layer. The earnings strip below therefore uses reported EPS versus a year earlier, which is fully sourced from filings.
The IT factor — the most exciting thing the market is overlooking — is not assessed on an X-Ray page. It belongs to the Deep Dive (Phase 2), where it gets the evidence standard it needs. Leadership-era scoring (the six years split by chief executive) is likewise a Phase 2 layer; this page names the current chief executive only, from a sourced profile.
Sources
- SEC EDGAR submissions — Filing index; company legal name.
https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK0000804328.json - SEC EDGAR company facts — Quarterly financial spine: revenue, gross profit, net income, GAAP diluted EPS, operating cash flow, PP&E capex, buybacks, dividends, diluted shares.
https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0000804328.json - Nasdaq official daily history — Daily closes for the company; SPY (assetclass=etf) saved as raw/nasdaq_spy_raw.json over identical dates.
https://api.nasdaq.com/api/quote/QCOM/historical?assetclass=stocks - Valuation multiples and peer figures — stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026; see valuation_label.md in the data pack.
Conventions: earliest-filed value per period, as first reported; cash-flow years-to-date differenced quarter by quarter; EPS never differenced; free cash flow = operating cash flow minus plant-and-equipment spending. This page is a dated snapshot — updates are new versions, never silent edits.