News about Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) has proposed acquiring PickNik Robotics, a developer of advanced robotics software, to strengthen its position in physical AI, edge computing and intelligent robotics. PickNik maintains MoveIt, an open-source manipulation framework built on ROS that supports motion planning and robotic control across industrial automation, service robotics and physical AI. Qualcomm expects to integrate MoveIt and PickNik's commercial MoveIt Pro into its Dragonwing Robotics platforms and extend the work to Arduino boards, beginning with VENTUNO Q, while keeping MoveIt open source for third-party hardware. The financial terms have not been disclosed, and Qualcomm faces competition from NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA), Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) and AMD (AMD) in robotics computing.

Over the last twelve months, Qualcomm generated free cash flow equal to 5.5% of its market value, above the 4.4% yield for the median S&P 500 company, yet its revenue fell in each of its last two quarters. Free cash flow has declined for two consecutive years, from $12.6 billion in the twelve months to June 2024 to $10.4 billion in the twelve months to June 2026. Management attributed weaker phone chip sales to industry-wide memory prices, expects Apple revenue to step down faster in fiscal Q4 2026, and is raising chip prices by a double-digit percentage. Automotive chip revenue hit a record $1.6 billion in fiscal Q3, and the company now targets $40 billion of revenue outside phones by fiscal 2029, up from $22 billion. The article notes debt of $15.3 billion against $8.3 billion in cash and short-term investments, with operating profit at 14.9 times interest costs, and says the key question is whether free cash flow can steady as Apple revenue declines.

Arm Holdings (ARM) fell 5% to $232.22 and AMD dropped 5% to $534.29 after a Delaware federal jury found on Tuesday that Arm breached its chip architecture license agreement with Qualcomm. Jurors also found that Arm interfered with Qualcomm's customer relationship and violated California's unfair competition law, though Arm won a separate technology licensing claim. Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) slipped 2% to $412.45, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell 3% and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) fell 2%. Closing arguments in a bench trial over Arm's licensing of its newest architecture are scheduled for next week, and the article says that ruling could deepen pressure on the chip sector.