Forensic Analysis · Communications Equipment & Electronic Components · as of Nov 9, 2026
Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)
A forensic read on Qualcomm Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
4.6
Distress distance
3
Forensic signals
52.8%
ROE
-2.6%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Qualcomm Inc earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 4.6, placing it in the Safe zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by inventory days.
What the filings flag
137d
FY2025→FY2026
Inventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 120 to 137 FY2025→FY2026 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +32% vs +2% in cost of sales). Inventory is outrunning what's being sold — a flag for softening demand or obsolescence risk ahead.
135% of FCF
FY2026
Shareholder returns.Returned $11.7B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2026 — 135% of free cash flow. That is $3.0B (35%) more than free cash flow covered, and more than operating cash flow as well. It came out of the balance sheet's own liquid holdings, not new debt: cash and short-term investments fell $2.5B over FY2026, while total debt fell $198M — $2.5B of the $3.0B. The FY2026 cash-flow statement filed $224M from shares issued; $2.9B of investments purchased; net cash used in investing activities of $2.0B; net cash used in financing activities of $12.3B. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $3.5B of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 175%.
+11.5%
FY2025→FY2026
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +11.5% relative to their own average in FY2026 — scaled by NOA itself, not by total assets, which is what the Forensic Screens card's own accrual row divides by. Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit is sitting in the balance sheet rather than turning to cash. Net operating assets also rose $5.8B through acquisitions (increase in goodwill and intangibles); that purchase is investing and is excluded from this ratio. The build is led by inventory up +32% against +2% in cost of sales. A cash-flow measure on the same base agrees: reported earnings ran ahead of operating cash by 7% of net operating assets, against an accruals ratio of 11.5%. The two are computed differently: the accruals ratio is the change in net operating assets over average net operating assets, while the cash-flow figure is net income less operating cash flow over that same average.Accruals ratio: the year-over-year change in net operating assets, relative to their own average.NOA (net operating assets): the money tied up in running the business, operating assets minus operating liabilities.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$43.12B
Revenue Growth YoY-2.6%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+5.2%
Net Margin31.6%
Free Cash Flow$8.65B
Return on Equity52.8%
Debt / Equity0.48x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Qualcomm Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?