Qualcomm reverses after earnings as handset sales slide 26%

A strong trading day meets a harder earnings test

Qualcomm’s November 4 results show handset weakness alongside automotive growth. Fiscal fourth-quarter GAAP revenue was US$10.322 billion, down 8% year over year; adjusted EPS was US$2.17, down 28%. The quarter ended September 27, 2026. [1]

QCOM closed November 4 at US$173.19, up US$8.76, or 5.33%. Yahoo then displayed US$161.50 at 7:16:29 p.m. ET: down US$11.69, or 6.75%, from that close. Displayed daily volume was 21,499,963 shares, 1.98 times the preceding 30-session mean of 10,836,860. That snapshot is not a separately verified regular-session-only volume; the after-hours price is not live. [3,4]

The numbers behind the reversal

Inside the QCT chip business, handset revenue fell to US$5.137 billion from US$6.961 billion. Automotive rose to US$1.990 billion from US$1.053 billion; internet-of-things sales increased 4% to US$1.888 billion. Automotive’s advance did not offset phones: total QCT revenue fell 8% to US$9.015 billion. [1]

Adjusted revenue excludes a US$120 million customer payment tied to a legal settlement; GAAP revenue includes its effect. Adjusted EPS also excludes costs included in GAAP earnings. The measures are not interchangeable when judging earnings quality. [1]

Why the outlook matters more than the beat

The next-quarter revenue forecast has a US$10.8 billion midpoint, but the margin picture is less comfortable. Qualcomm guides QCT’s pretax margin to 20%–22%, versus 24% in Q4. Its presentation attributes a three-percentage-point impact to adding the developing data-center business to QCT in fiscal 2027. That reporting change affects the segment comparison, not total-company guidance. [2]

• Costs: Qualcomm says wafer manufacturing, packaging, memory and other inputs are becoming more expensive; it expects the full benefit of price increases only in the second half of fiscal 2027. [1,2]
• Diversification: management reiterated a US$5 billion fiscal 2027 data-center revenue target. It is a target, not a guaranteed replacement for handset sales. [1]
• Sector context: AMD gained 1.01% at the November 4 close, while Broadcom fell 2.00% and the SOXX semiconductor ETF lost 3.14%. Peers did not move together; QCOM’s later reversal must be separated from that earlier sector session. [5–7]

What it means for option sellers

The wheel links a cash-secured put, possible share assignment and a covered call. An earnings gap can leave a put seller buying above the new market. A covered call retains most share-price downside while limiting participation in a recovery. [11,12]

Cboe’s saved November 4 regular-session options data showed 30-day implied volatility of 58.04%. OptionCharts’ latest dated overview was November 3: 59.9% IV and IV rank 51. These are distinct, pre-release observations, not verified post-earnings pricing. IV describes option-implied uncertainty; IV rank locates it within a historical range; a fresh post-report IV rank was unavailable, so yesterday’s rank is not presented as today’s. [8,9]

A US$175 covered-call strike is another illustration, not a recommendation: shares could be called away even if a rebound continued. Neither example supplies an executable premium or profit forecast. Tomorrow’s actual market matters, not the assumption that pre-earnings premiums survive. [11,12]

• Business risk: automotive growth does not remove reliance on handsets. [1]
• Pricing risk: post-report options may reprice sharply; a closing snapshot cannot establish the next executable bid. [8,11]
• Wheel risk: rolling changes the contract but does not erase an economic loss; call income does not insure the shares. [11,12]

What to watch next

• November 5: the next regular session is the first full-session test after this earnings release; compare the opening stock and option markets with the timestamped snapshots above.
• November 6, 8:30 a.m. ET: October’s U.S. employment report is scheduled. November 10, 8:30 a.m. ET: October CPI follows. Both can change the market backdrop before November 20. [10]
• Fiscal 2027: track the data-center target, segment-reporting change and promised second-half pricing benefits against future disclosures, rather than treating the timetable as an achieved result. [1,2]
• Next Qualcomm earnings: no subsequent report date was verified in the issuer disclosures consulted; it is not assumed to be outside any option holding period. [1,2]

The Employment Cost Index, released October 30, showed civilian compensation costs up 0.8% over the three months through September, seasonally adjusted, and 3.4% over twelve months, unadjusted. These are wage-cost background readings, not proof of QCOM’s price driver. Can growth outside phones improve earnings while costs rise? [13]

Archival photograph of Qualcomm’s headquarters in San Diego, December 26, 2015. Coolcaesar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped, resized and JPEG-recompressed; the adapted photograph remains under the same license. Not today’s event; no endorsement implied.