Arm and Qualcomm both plan to report on Wednesday, November 4, after the market close. Their share prices have weakened ahead of those reports, but their businesses are not identical. Arm licenses computing designs and earns royalties when customers ship products. Qualcomm sells chips and platforms through QCT and also earns licensing revenue through QTL. A raw margin or price-to-earnings comparison would hide those differences.
The latest reported businesses
Arm's latest reported quarter ended June 30, the first quarter of its fiscal 2027. Revenue was $1.289 billion, up 22% from a year earlier. Royalty revenue was $715 million, up 22%, and license and other revenue was $574 million, up 23%. GAAP operating income was $91 million. Cash provided by operations was $902 million; Arm's separately defined non-GAAP free cash flow was $665 million.
Qualcomm's latest reported quarter ended June 28, the third quarter of its fiscal 2026. Revenue was $9.947 billion, down 4% year over year. QCT chip-business revenue was $8.504 billion, down 5%; QTL licensing revenue was $1.278 billion, down 3%. Within QCT, handset revenue fell 20% to $5.086 billion, while automotive rose 61% to $1.588 billion and IoT rose 9% to $1.830 billion. These revenue categories are Qualcomm's, not a direct equivalent of Arm royalties.
The companies' next reports cover different fiscal periods. Arm's upcoming quarter ended September 30; Qualcomm's fiscal fourth quarter ended September 27. The comparison is about each company's own change and cash conversion, not a matched-quarter sales contest.
The chart test
At the October 30 close, ARM was $205.97 and QCOM $164.79. Both finished below their 50-day and 200-day simple averages: ARM's were $258.73 and $228.93; QCOM's were $177.84 and $169.52. ARM fell 9.97% in Friday's regular session, while QCOM fell 11.12%. The paired chart rebases both daily closing series to zero at the May 4 close; it does not compare the two dollar prices.
Measured from May 4, ARM's October 30 close was up 1.33% and QCOM's was down 2.13%. Those modest endpoint differences conceal larger moves. ARM's intraday high of $452.70 on June 18 preceded an intraday low of $198.77 on October 30, a 56.09% peak-to-subsequent-low decline. Its October 30 close of $205.97 was 3.62% above that low. QCOM's intraday high of $259.92 on May 29 preceded an intraday low of $142.89 on August 3, a 45.03% decline; its October 30 close of $164.79 was 15.33% above that low. The declines use intraday extremes, while the rebound figures compare an intraday low with a later closing price. Neither set of extremes is drawn as a point on the chart's rebased daily-closing lines.
For Arm, the report needs to show royalty growth, license timing, spending, and cash conversion. For Qualcomm, watch whether handset weakness is offset by automotive, IoT and licensing, plus the outlook for its next fiscal quarter. A daily close back above each stock's 50-day average would be a first chart improvement; a daily close below the October 30 intraday lows of $198.77 for ARM or $161.72 for QCOM would weaken each setup. Neither outcome is guaranteed by the earnings calendar.
Sources: Arm's latest reported results and November 4 notice; Qualcomm's latest reported results filed with the SEC and November 4 notice; dated October 30 daily-price snapshots retained privately. Educational market research, not a recommendation to buy or sell.