Qualcomm Q4 Earnings Preview: AI Accelerator Shift to Revalue the Mobile Chip Giant

TradingKey - Qualcomm (QCOM), the world’s largest smartphone chipmaker, will report its Q4 FY2025 earnings (natural Q3 2025) after market close on November 5. Investors expect another quarter of modest revenue growth, but increasing excitement around its entry into the AI accelerator market could reframe Qualcomm’s long-term outlook — signaling a strategic shift from low-growth mobile chips to high-growth AI computing.

According to Seeking Alpha, analysts forecast:

• Revenue: $10.76 billion, up 5.08% YoY from $10.24B — in line with Qualcomm’s midpoint guidance of $10.7B
• EPS: $2.87, up 6.69% YoY from $2.69

The projected ~5% revenue growth is notably slower than the past four quarters, which saw at least 10% annual growth — down from 15% in Q1 and 10% in Q2. 

This reflects the slow recovery in global smartphone demand, a mature market where Qualcomm generates most of its revenue through mobile chip sales and technology licensing agreements.

Despite consistently beating EPS estimates for at least nine consecutive quarters, Qualcomm has seen its stock fall on the first trading day following four of the last five earnings reports. In Q2, shares dropped nearly 8% despite top- and bottom-line beats — dragged down by weaker-than-expected smartphone business momentum.

Beyond Mobile: The AI Accelerator Breakthrough

While Q3 results may not deliver major surprises, Qualcomm’s push into the AI data center market is capturing investor attention — offering a path from “low speed” to “high speed” growth.

At the end of October, Qualcomm announced it is officially entering the AI data center race:

• Its new AI200 chip will begin shipping in 2026
• Saudi AI startup Humain plans to deploy 200 megawatts of AI200-powered systems
• A more advanced AI250 chip is slated for launch in 2027

This marks a pivotal step in Qualcomm’s strategy to reduce reliance on smartphones and enter the fast-growing AI processor market — one dominated by Nvidia but valued at over $500 billion.

It also represents a milestone in the AI arms race, as Qualcomm leverages its expertise in power-efficient chip design — honed in the mobile space — to compete in AI inference and edge computing.

Bloomberg analysts noted that the Humain deal shows early traction for Qualcomm’s AI accelerators.

While it’s too early to call this a serious challenge to Nvidia’s dominance, even a small market share gain in the massive AI accelerator space could translate into billions in incremental revenue.

Market optimism centers on Qualcomm’s ability to win contracts from hyperscalers like Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta — which are actively diversifying their AI chip suppliers beyond Nvidia.

Valuation and Analyst Outlook

Per TradingKey’s stock analysis tool, Wall Street analysts set an average price target of $182.16 — implying about 5.4% upside from current levels (~$172.84). The overall rating is “Buy,” reflecting growing confidence in Qualcomm’s AI pivot.

Recent upgrades include:

• JPMorgan: Raised target from $200 to $210
• Citi: Increased target from $170 to $175

These moves reflect belief that Qualcomm’s AI ambitions are gaining credibility — and could unlock significant value over the next few years.