Growth Potential and Risks for Investors in 2025

The Foundation

Qualcomm is healthy on the financial front. During the fiscal third quarter that closed on June 29, 2025, Qualcomm earned revenues of about $10.37 billion and pulled an EPS of $2.77, beating the expectations of analysts. Its gross profit is impressively 55.68% with a robust ROE of 42%, sending a message that it is effectively profitable and creates shareholders value.

With the value of its stock in the range of $165 billion, and the price earnings ratio of around 15, it is an indication of a well-priced stock considering the current income earning and growth potential. At the time of writing (about August 11), the stock price was slightly above $148, as compared to its all-time-high, in June 2024, of $227. 

Diversification and Growth Engines

Qualcomm has been moving away since it was a mobile-chip giant to a diversified supplier specializing in automotive, Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI) edge computing destinations. The financial Q3 marked a year-over-year increase of 23% in combined automotive and IoT revenues, which marked an increasing presence of the company outside smartphones.

It indicated that the chipset sector made $9 billion of revenue with licenses being $1.3 billion. This diversification is important since Apple is slated to switch off using Qualcomm modems by 2027, which Qualcomm lays at the periphery but has been counterbalanced by expansion in other areas.

Its strategic plans involve collaboration with the giants of the industry like Samsung and Xiaomi, long-term deals that guarantee owning a significant market share in high-profile Android smartphones, and the increase of capacities in the sphere of AI-related products and data centers.

Qualcomm is a company that has expressed its desire to be a leader in high-performance, low-power computing, and advanced connectivity technology, which means that Qualcomm is better placed to take advantage of the increased use of AI.

Capital Allocation, and Shareholder Returns

Qualcomm conducted a $5.3 billion buyback program in late 2024, and that is more than 3% of the outstanding shares, indicating that the company trusts in the stock. The firm also has a dividend that provides an approximate 2.3% dividend and lately paid a dividend of $3.56 a share, providing growth together with the income that it provides. Such shareholder-friendly actions ease the nerves of softer markets during an uncertain time.

Market Risks

Apple- Qualcomm is still strongly impacted by the loss of revenue to the company as the latter intends on producing their own modems by 2027. Further expansion of competition in the semiconductor industry, potential disruptions or lower concentration in the supply chain and geopolitical uncertainties are other things investors need to monitor. This factor is important because the success of scaling the automotive business and IoT business in the company leads to covering the losses effectively.

Valuation and Sentiment of Analysts

The analyst consensus has moderately voted Qualcomm to be a Buy with an average price objective of around $182. This shows a possible upside of nearly 19% of the current prices at approximately $148. The forward P/E is about 13 which is appealing relative to peers because of the growth potential of the company. The Technical indicators indicate a scheme of short-term volatility with a combination of conservative feeling attributable to outside pressures and optimism based on structural implementation.

Looking Ahead

Qualcomm’s FY 2025 fourth-quarter revenues are expected to be in the range of $10.3 billion to $11.1 billion, and the projected EPS of this quarter range between 2.75 and 2.9. The firm targets blending automotive and IoT income to surpass $22 billion in 2029, which supports an extensive consolidated revenue CAGR at about 10%.

Further development in AI, automotive connectivity and data centers are large growth anchors. Qualcomm has thus far registered a solid growth story with several revenue headwinds associated with Apple in the short-term, but its diversified portfolio, and innovation pipeline offer a compelling growth story.

An investor will either sell or buy Qualcomm stock based on his or her relative risk-and-moderate demand and projected growth. Despite short-term issues, close fundamentals, strategic diversification as well as shareholder-friendly policies make the company a worthy bet for individuals who would want to gain exposure to semiconductor and AI technology markets that are rapidly evolving.

To sum up, Qualcomm is successfully positioned in an evolving industry. It does not get the first ranking among The Motley Fool record of the best stocks today, which indicates some caution, but it is an intelligent investment to pursue those investors who bet on the diversity and innovation of technology. Investors with a medium-long term focus should take a moderate position, observing the dynamics of the market and developments over quarters.