CluenexQUALCOMM Incorporated QCOM
QUALCOMM Incorporated scores good on business quality (6.1 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What QUALCOMM Incorporated does
Qualcomm makes money by selling mobile processors and licensing foundational wireless patents to smartphone makers. Nearly every handset manufacturer pays a toll for its cellular connectivity technology.
- What it does best
Qualcomm dominates mobile modem technology through an irreplaceable patent portfolio. It converts an operating margin of 23.3%, outperforming AMD at 15.7% by leveraging deep cellular standards lock-in that rivals cannot easily replicate.
- The main risk
Customer concentration in high-end smartphones exposes revenue to sudden volume drops from key handset partners. Any slowdown in premium device upgrades directly hits its $44.1B revenue base.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Gross margin sits at 54.2% and operating margin is 23.3%. Margins are stable as scaling in automotive chips offsets mature mobile markets.
Patents and cellular technology standards lock in global handset manufacturers. It ranks in the 68th percentile for operating margin, backed by standard-essential IP that takes decades to build.
Revenue grew 13.7% to reach $44.1B, accelerating past the prior year's $39.0B and recovering well from the 2022 slump shown in historical summaries.
Debt-to-equity sits at 0.7 with interest coverage at 14.9x, meaning debt costs are manageable. Free cash flow reached $10.4B, showing strong cash generation that is getting slightly softer.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Our sealed record on QCOM
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
QUALCOMM Incorporated scores good on the Cluenex quality check (6.1 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is strong, moat fair, growth slow and financial health fair.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Nov 4, 2026, after the close.
See QCOM today
- Today's verdict on QCOM, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/qcom/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.