Qualcomm (QCOM) Q3 2026 Earnings Report

The call presents a materially positive long-term outlook driven by clear diversification progress: record automotive results, robust IoT and industrial design wins, concrete early data center milestones (tape-out, two custom wins with wafers in production) and an expanded FY2029 non-handset target to $40B. Short-term challenges include elevated memory and input costs, supply constraints that materially reduce expected Apple revenue, handset-market weakness (Android down ~20% YoY), and near-term gross-margin pressure (partly offset over time by double-digit pricing actions). Given the magnitude and strategic significance of the wins and targets versus manageable near-term cost and supply headwinds, the highlights outweigh the lowlights.

Qualcomm guided fourth‑fiscal‑quarter revenue of $9.7–$10.5 billion and non‑GAAP EPS of $2.05–$2.25, with QTL revenue of $1.2–$1.4 billion (EBT margin 68–72%) and QCT revenue of $8.4–$9.0 billion (EBT margin 23–25%); within QCT they expect roughly $5.2 billion of handset revenue, IoT about flat year‑over‑year with double‑digit growth in industrial networking and robotics, and another record automotive quarter of ~60% YoY growth. They forecast non‑GAAP operating expenses of about $2.7 billion in the quarter, are implementing double‑digit price increases to offset rising input costs (with benefit layering in over a few quarters), and expect QCT gross margins to be slightly below historical range near‑term (with data‑center custom chips diluting QCT gross margin by ~1.5–2%). Two custom data‑center silicon engagements are revenue‑generating beginning in the December quarter, the company expects data‑center revenue of $5 billion in FY‑27 and $15 billion in FY‑29, and updated targets call for $40 billion of non‑handset revenue by FY‑29 (automotive+IoT >$24B, data center >$15B), with non‑handsets >50% of QCT in FY‑27 and ~2/3 in FY‑29; they also raised the automotive exit annualized run rate to ~ $7 billion, see an $8B industrial target for FY‑29 and report a >$7B industrial design‑win pipeline (>$3.5B won this fiscal year).