Qualcomm (QCOM) Q2 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Second quarter fiscal 2026 revenue was $10.6 billion, down 3% year-over-year, with non-GAAP EPS of $2.65 and GAAP EPS of $6.88, driven by a $5.7 billion income tax benefit from the release of a valuation allowance.

• QCT revenues were $9.08 billion, down 4% year-over-year, with record automotive and growing IoT revenues; QTL licensing revenues were $1.38 billion, up 5% year-over-year.

• Strategic focus on agentic AI, automotive, IoT, and data center diversification, with strong customer engagement, new product launches, and entry into the data center market via Alphawave acquisition.

• Announced a major 6G initiative, forming a 60-company coalition to drive next-generation wireless and AI-native networks.

• $5.4 billion in share repurchases completed in the first half of fiscal 2026, with a new $20 billion authorization announced.

Financial highlights

• GAAP net income rose 162% year-over-year to $7.4 billion, driven by the $5.7 billion tax benefit; non-GAAP net income fell 10% to $2.84 billion.

• Automotive revenues grew 38% year-over-year to $1.33 billion; IoT revenues up 9% to $1.73 billion; QCT Handsets revenue fell 13% to $6.02 billion.

• Returned $3.7 billion to shareholders in Q2 via $2.8 billion in share repurchases and $945 million in dividends.

• Operating income was $2.31 billion, down from $3.12 billion year-over-year.

• Cash and cash equivalents at quarter-end were $5.4 billion, down from $7.2 billion a year ago.

Outlook and guidance

• Q3 fiscal 2026 revenue guidance: $9.2–$10.0 billion; non-GAAP EPS expected between $2.10 and $2.30.

• QCT handset revenues from Chinese customers expected to bottom in Q3 and return to sequential growth in Q4.

• QTL revenues expected at $1.15–$1.35 billion with EBT margins of 67%–71%; QCT revenues projected at $7.9–$8.5 billion, EBT margins 25%–27%.

• Guidance reflects ongoing memory supply constraints and related pricing impacts.

• Non-GAAP effective tax rate projected at ~13% going forward.