ARM
Arm Holdings plc American Depositary Shares
ARM has the edge over QCOM overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
QCOM
QUALCOMM Incorporated
QCOM offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
ARM Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
ARM's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
QCOM Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy |
QCOM's profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable.
ARM PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 167x | $147 | -27% |
| Fair | 224x | $197 | -1.4% |
| Current | 227x | $200 | — |
| Expensive | 361x | $317 | +59% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ARM's PE is in its fair range at 227x.
QCOM PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 14x | $175 | -1.1% |
| Current | 14x | $177 | — |
| Fair | 20x | $248 | +40% |
| Expensive | 26x | $333 | +88% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
QCOM has the edge over ARM in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
ARM Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for ARM, with profitability improving.
QCOM Forward outlook
There aren't enough analyst estimates for QCOM to show an outlook.
ARM Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $0.88 | +13% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.98 | +48% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.85 | +13% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.75 | -1.3% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.78 | +30% |
| Q1 2025 | $0.75 | +159% |
| Q4 2024 | $0.76 | +850% |
| Q3 2024 | $0.60 | +233% |
ARM has the edge over QCOM on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
QCOM Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $12.70 | +153% |
| Q2 2026 | $8.76 | -15% |
| Q1 2026 | $9.32 | -4.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $4.96 | -47% |
| Q3 2025 | $5.01 | -44% |
| Q2 2025 | $10.35 | +34% |
| Q1 2025 | $9.80 | +32% |
| Q4 2024 | $9.34 | +35% |
QCOM earned $12.70 per share over the past year, up 153% from the year before.
ARM Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.4B | +27% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.3B | +22% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.5B | +20% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.2B | +26% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.1B | +34% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.1B | +12% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.2B | +34% |
| Q4 2024 | $983M | +19% |
ARM has the edge over QCOM on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 14% | -0.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | 7.1% | -3.8 points |
| Q1 2026 | 29% | -3.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 15% | -2.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 14% | +6.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 11% | -8.5 points |
| Q1 2025 | 33% | +31 points |
| Q4 2024 | 18% | +1.5 points |
ARM has the edge over QCOM on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
QCOM Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $10.3B | -8.4% |
| Q2 2026 | $9.9B | -4% |
| Q1 2026 | $10.6B | -3.5% |
| Q4 2025 | $12.3B | +5% |
| Q3 2025 | $11.3B | +10% |
| Q2 2025 | $10.4B | +10% |
| Q1 2025 | $11B | +17% |
| Q4 2024 | $11.7B | +17% |
QCOM's revenue grew through 2024 and has held roughly level since: $10.3B last quarter, down 8.4% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 13% | -13 points |
| Q2 2026 | 16% | -10 points |
| Q1 2026 | 22% | -6.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 27% | -3 points |
| Q3 2025 | 26% | +0.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | 27% | +3 points |
| Q1 2025 | 28% | +3.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 30% | +1 points |
QCOM's operating margin was 13% last quarter, down 13 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the bottom of its range since 2019.
ARM Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $135M | -69% |
| Q2 2026 | $705M | +296% |
| Q1 2026 | $186M | +1.1% |
| Q4 2025 | $186M | -48% |
| Q3 2025 | $429M | +$476M |
| Q2 2025 | $178M | +$497M |
| Q1 2025 | $184M | -72% |
| Q4 2024 | $360M | +25% |
ARM has the edge over QCOM on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
QCOM Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.8B | -49% |
| Q2 2026 | $495M | -81% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.9B | -18% |
| Q4 2025 | $4.4B | +2.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.6B | +50% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.6B | -3.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.3B | -31% |
| Q4 2024 | $4.3B | +58% |
QCOM's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $8.7B over the past year, down 33% from the year before.
ARM Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.1% | +1M shares |
| 1 year | +0.9% | +10M shares |
| 3 years | +5.2% | +53.7M shares |
ARM has 1.1B diluted shares, up 0.9% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q1 2023 | — |
| Q4 2022 | — |
| Q3 2022 | — |
| Q2 2022 | — |
QCOM Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.4% | +4M shares |
| 1 year | -2.9% | -32M shares |
| 3 years | -4.7% | -53M shares |
| 5 years | -6.6% | -76M shares |
| Available history | -7.4% | -86M shares |
QCOM has the edge over ARM on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1B |
| Q2 2026 | $1.4B |
| Q1 2026 | $2.8B |
| Q4 2025 | $2.7B |
| Q3 2025 | $2.4B |
| Q2 2025 | $2.8B |
| Q1 2025 | $1.7B |
| Q4 2024 | $1.8B |
QCOM spent $7.8B buying back its own shares over the past year, down 11% from the year before.
ARM Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2023 | -1.6x | Net Cash |
ARM has more cash than debt.
QCOM Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.0x | Healthy |
| Q2 2026 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.4x | Very low |
QCOM's net debt is about a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from less than a year a year ago.
ARM Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 43.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 11.0 | Oversold |
ARM's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 11 (oversold).
QCOM Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 50.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 40.2 | Neutral |
QCOM's weekly RSI is 51 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 40 (neutral).
ARM PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | ARM | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 227x | 28x | 715% above |
| PE % | 51 | 23 | 28 pts above |
ARM is trading at 227x earnings, a 715% premium to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
QCOM PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | QCOM | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 14x | 28x | 50% below |
| PE % | 17 | 35 | 18 pts below |
QCOM has the edge over ARM on valuation relative to its sector.
ARM Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $237.8 | 16% below |
| 20 week MA | $257.3 | 22% below |
| 50 week MA | $213.9 | 6.6% below |
| 100 week MA | $176.5 | 13% above |
QCOM has stronger trend alignment. ARM is above 1 of 4 weekly averages versus QCOM above 4 of 5.
QCOM Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $177.2 | 0% below |
| 20 week MA | $172.8 | 2.5% above |
| 50 week MA | $170.7 | 3.8% above |
| 100 week MA | $164.3 | 7.8% above |
| 200 week MA | $155.1 | 14% above |
QCOM's trend is up, with a small recent dip: it's below only its 8-week average, and 14% above its 200-week average.
ARM Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $60.8 | $75.2 | +24% |
| 2024 | $75.2 | $129.2 | +72% |
| 2025 | $129.2 | $110.3 | -15% |
| 2026 YTD | $110.3 | $199.8 | +81% |
ARM has the edge over QCOM on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
QCOM Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $88.8 | $148.8 | +68% |
| 2021 | $148.8 | $182.7 | +23% |
| 2022 | $182.7 | $110.8 | -39% |
| 2023 | $110.8 | $144.6 | +30% |
| 2024 | $144.6 | $157.2 | +8.7% |
| 2025 | $157.2 | $174.8 | +11% |
| 2026 YTD | $174.8 | $177.1 | +1.3% |
QCOM has finished higher in five of the last six years. It's up 1.3% so far in 2026.