Qualcomm Revenues Fall 8 Percent Amid Mobile Industry Decline

Qualcomm reported that it earned a net income of $1.25 billion on revenues of $10.3 billion in the quarter ending September 27, 2026. The firm had posted a net loss of $3.1 billion in the year-ago quarter, and revenues in this quarter fell 8 percent year-over-year (YOY).

The quarter also marked the end of Qualcomm’s fiscal year, during which it earned a net income of $13.6 billion on revenues of $43 billion. Those figures represent a gain of 146 percent and a decline of 3 percent, respectively, YOY.

“Fiscal 2027 marks the start of our non-handset revenue inflection, including the ramp of our Data Center business,” Qualcomm president and CEO Cristiano Amon said, looking ahead. “Non-handset revenues are projected to grow by more than 60 percent year-over-year, and we are reiterating our fiscal 2027 Data Center revenue target of $5 billion.”

This year has been problematic for device and component makers because of the ongoing component shortage triggered by AI datacenter hyper-growth. And in addition to the PC market dropping over 20 percent in the most recent quarter, IDC says that the smartphone market is likewise experiencing a major slump, with overall shipments expected to decline almost 17 percent this year. So Qualcomm, the largest marker of processors and chips in this market, has been hit hard.

That’s understandable. But Qualcomm is increasingly mixing GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles, a regulatory requirement) and non-GAAP numbers in its earnings communications, making it difficult to clearly see the impact of the crisis on its business. For the example, the first slide of its earnings presentation lists revenues (non-GAAP), EPS (GAAP), and non-GAAP EPS (non-GAAP) side-by-side in a prominent way. No bueno.

Worse, Qualcomm’s breakdown of its QCT (chipsets) and QTL (licensing) revenues are all non-GAAP, which I refuse to acknowledge. Just know that both are down YOY in the quarter and for the full year using the rosier non-GAAP numbers, so the real-world results are even worse.