Why Qualcomm stock erased losses to rally 9% after Q2 earnings

Investing.com -- Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ: QCOM) shares rose 9% on Wednesday after initially falling more than 6% following the company’s second quarter fiscal 2026 results and weaker-than-expected guidance.

The chipmaker reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.65, beating the analyst consensus of $2.55 by $0.10. Revenue reached $10.6 billion, slightly above the $10.58 billion estimate, though down 3% from $10.98 billion in the same quarter last year.

For the third quarter, Qualcomm forecast revenue of $9.2 billion to $10 billion, with a midpoint of $9.6 billion falling short of the $10.26 billion analyst consensus. The company also guided adjusted EPS to a range of $2.10 to $2.30, with a midpoint of $2.20 below the $2.43 estimate.

The stock initially tumbled following the guidance but reversed course to gain 15% before settling at a 9% increase. The turnaround surprised analysts who had expected shares to fall on the weaker outlook.

Qualcomm said it will begin shipping chips to a large hyperscaler data center customer this calendar year, earlier than the fiscal 2027 timeline previously provided. The company also said the Chinese smartphone sector, its biggest market, would bottom out in the third quarter and return to sequential growth in the following quarter.

"We are pleased to deliver results in line with our guidance, reflecting solid execution as we navigate a challenging memory environment," said Cristiano Amon, President and CEO. "We are in a period of profound industry transformation — the rise of AI agents is reshaping our roadmap across every platform we develop."

Automotive revenues reached a record $1.33 billion, up 38% year-over-year. Combined automotive and IoT revenues grew 20% year-over-year. Handset revenues declined 13% to $6.02 billion. The QTL licensing segment generated $1.38 billion in revenue, up 5% year-over-year.

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