Qualcomm Shares Drop After Memory Shortage Weighs on Outlook

Qualcomm reported financial results for its first quarter of fiscal 2026 that were better than expected. The company reported $12.25 billion in revenue, showing growth compared to the previous period.

Despite the positive results, Qualcomm gave a forecast for the next quarter that disappointed Wall Street. The company expects its revenue and profit to be lower than analysts hoped. The main reason is a global shortage of memory chips, which affects the smartphone industry.

Qualcomm supplies processors and modems to smartphone makers, who often buy their own memory chips separately. Because of the memory shortage, smartphone makers are more cautious with their inventories, which is likely to impact Qualcomm’s sales in the coming months.

As a result of the weak outlook, Qualcomm’s stock price fell after the earnings announcement.

Qualcomm's stock dropped because the company announced a weaker forecast for the next quarter, mainly due to a global shortage of memory chips affecting the smartphone market.

The global supply of memory chips is limited right now, making it harder and more expensive for companies to get the memory they need for products like smartphones.

Qualcomm makes key parts for smartphones, but phone manufacturers need memory chips as well. The shortage means these manufacturers buy fewer parts overall, which negatively impacts Qualcomm's sales.

CNBC

Qualcomm reported fiscal first quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat expectations, but the company's forecast came up short because of the global memory shortage. Qualcomm's smartphone customers, who buy their own memory and pair it with Qualcomm's processors and modems, are closely watching their...

Reuters

Chip supplier Qualcomm forecast second-quarter revenue and profit below Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, expecting a global memory supply shortage to hit mobile phone sales.

Schwab Network

Qualcomm (QCOM) is down more than 10% so far in 2026 into its first earnings report for the year. Rick Ducat notes Qualcomm as a key stock in a tech dispersion, pointing out its underperformance contrasting peers.

Business Wire

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced the Company's financial results for its first quarter of fiscal 2026 through an earnings release that is available on the Qualcomm Investor Relations website at https://investor.qualcomm.com/financial-information. The e...

WSJ

The semiconductor company logged revenue of $12.25 billion, but said the memory supply shortage will put a damper on its performance in the current quarter.

Market Watch

Supply shortages in the memory market have been a thorn in the side of technology companies, and Qualcomm is feeling the pain as well.

Zacks Investment Research

Qualcomm (QCOM) came out with quarterly earnings of $3.5 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.39 per share. This compares to earnings of $3.41 per share a year ago.

Zacks Investment Research

Although the revenue and EPS for Qualcomm (QCOM) give a sense of how its business performed in the quarter ended December 2025, it might be worth considering how some key metrics compare with Wall Street estimates and the year-ago numbers.

CNBC Television

Qualcomm reported fiscal first quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat expectations, but the company's forecast came up short because of the global memory shortage.

The Motley Fool

Qualcomm reported first quarter fiscal 2026 financial results after the market closed this afternoon. Management is less optimistic than analysts are about the company's growth in fiscal 2026.

Reuters

Memory shortages will constrain sales of cell phones for some time, hurting demand for chip industry companies like supplier Qualcomm and chip architecture designer Arm Holdings , executives and analysts said on Wednesday as both companies reported results that disappointed investors.

Seeking Alpha

QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Proactive Investors

This was not a classic earnings disappointment. Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM, XETRA:QCI) exceeded consensus forecasts on both revenue and adjusted earnings per share.

Seeking Alpha

Qualcomm (QCOM) remains a Buy despite a 26% monthly drop, driven by short-term DRAM shortages impacting handset revenues. QCOM trades at under 12x forward earnings, with automotive and IoT segments growing rapidly and management reaffirming a $22B revenue target for these by 2029. Automotive posted...

Seeking Alpha

Qualcomm shares are in free fall, down 10% after hours. The company's Q2 guidance came in a below expectations. It could be a rough few quarters ahead but there is an opportunity here for long-term investors.

Benzinga

Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ: QCOM) reported upbeat first-quarter financial results and issued second-quarter guidance below estimates on Wednesday.

Barrons

Both stocks were falling as phone manufacturers scale back production plans.

Zacks Investment Research

Qualcomm beats on Q1 earnings courtesy of record automotive and handset revenues, fueled by IoT demand, even as total sales narrowly missed estimates.

Investopedia

Qualcomm's stock is getting hammered amid worries about a worsening memory shortage.

Schaeffers Research

Chip stocks Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Arm Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:ARM) are moving in opposite directions this morning.

CNBC

Qualcomm dropped as the chipmaker issued lackluster guidance due to the ongoing memory chip shortage. The company topped fiscal first-quarter estimates but issued lighter-than-expected guidance.

Invezz

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) shares opened about 11% down on Feb. 5 after the semiconductor giant issued cautious guidance for its fiscal Q2 that overshadowed its record-breaking performance in the holiday quarter.

Bloomberg Technology

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon discusses the impact of memory constraints on the company's outlook after the largest maker of smartphone processors gave a tepid revenue forecast for the current quarter. Amon joins Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow on “Bloomberg Tech.

MarketBeat

After reporting dodgy earnings on Feb. 4 after market close, Qualcomm Inc NASDAQ: QCOM left investors wondering just what is going wrong. The stock is now trading below $140, down from $185 just a month ago.

Yahoo Finance

AI chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) reported fiscal first quarter adjusted earnings of $3.50 per share compared to an estimate of $3.41. Adjusted revenue was $12.25 billion versus an expectation of $12.2 billion.

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