QCOM Focuses More on Automotive Business: Is it a Key Growth Driver?

Qualcomm Incorporated’s QCOM Snapdragon Digital Chassis platform is increasingly gaining traction among automotive customers. Recently, Silicon Motion Technology Corporation SIMO completed the compatibility validation of its Universal Flash Storage (UFS) solution on Qualcomm Snapdragon Cockpit SA8295P platform. This enables automotive customers to confidently adopt Silicon Motion's UFS solution with Snapdragon Cockpit designs. 

Delivering powerful AI performance, advanced multi-display graphics and Automotive Safety Integrity Level B functional safety support, the Qualcomm Snapdragon Cockpit SA8295P is a high-performance automotive platform designed for smart cockpits. The automotive telematics and connectivity platforms, digital cockpit and C-V2X solutions are fueling emerging automotive industry trends such as the growth of connected vehicles, the transformation of the in-car experience and vehicle electrification. Qualcomm believes it is on track to become the largest smartphone radio frequency front-end supplier by revenues in the near future. 

The buyout of Veoneer, Inc. has provided Qualcomm with a firmer footing in the emerging market of driver-assistance technology, as it aims to expand the Snapdragon Ride Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) portfolio. The Arriver business of Veoneer operates the dedicated software unit focused on sensor perception and drive policy, including a full stack of features and functions. With the acquisition, Qualcomm has incorporated Arriver's Computer Vision, Drive Policy and Driver Assistance assets into its ADAS portfolio to deliver an open and competitive platform for automakers to better compete with rivals within the self-driving vehicle market.

Other Tech Firms Focusing on ADAS

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA offers a scalable AI computing platform tailored for ADAS and autonomous vehicles with NVIDIA Drive. It leverages AI-powered perception using deep neural networks for object detection, lane recognition and path planning, along with high-performance GPUs and software stacks for localization and control. NVIDIA DRIVE Thor platform has combined ADAS, cockpit and autonomous driving capabilities into a single SoC. It is working with more than 320 automakers, tier-one suppliers, automotive research institutions, HD mapping companies and start-ups to develop and deploy AI systems for self-driving vehicles. NVIDIA’s focus on incorporating AI into the cockpit for infotainment systems is allowing it to grow its autonomous driving revenues.

Intel Corporation INTC has gained a foothold in the ADAS market with the buyout of Mobileye. The acquisition has enabled the company to rapidly penetrate the autonomous car technology market, currently dominated by the likes of NVIDIA and Qualcomm. With technologies related to cameras, in-car networking, sensor chips, roadway mapping, cloud software, machine learning and data management, Intel envisions Mobileye as a high-growth revenue churner. Mobileye is shifting from low-cost, vision-only systems to premium ADAS software and SuperVision packages. Intel’s EyeQ6 and EyeQ Ultra are the next-gen chips targeting high compute and full autonomous capabilities.

QCOM’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Qualcomm shares have declined 20.8% over the past year against the industry’s growth of 21.8%.

Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 13.45 forward earnings, lower than 33.17 for the industry. 

Earnings estimates for 2025 have decreased 0.4% to $11.71 per share over the past 60 days, while the same for 2026 have declined 5.3% to $11.82.

Qualcomm stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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