Qualcomm Booked About $650 Million From Data Centers and Says It Could Sell More If It Had the Supply, as Phone Chip Sales Fell 26%
Qualcomm said on November 4 that it still expects $5 billion of data center revenue in fiscal 2027, and CEO Cristiano Amon told analysts it took in about $650 million from data centers in the September quarter. Handset chip sales fell 26% to $5.14 billion as memory costs hit phone demand, and a soft outlook sent the stock down 7% after hours.
Qualcomm wants investors to see a data center company growing inside a phone-chip company, and so far the evidence is a target and a comment on a call. On November 4 Qualcomm reiterated that it expects $5 billion of data center revenue in fiscal 2027. CEO Cristiano Amon told analysts the company had $650 million of data center revenue in the September quarter, mostly from custom chip and connectivity work, CNBC reported. "We don't have a demand issue; it's a supply issue," Amon said. "If I had more supply, I would probably be doing better."
The quarter#
Qualcomm reported fiscal fourth-quarter non-GAAP revenue of $10.44 billion, down 7% from a year earlier, and non-GAAP earnings of $2.17 per share, against $2.16 expected, according to CNBC. Handset chip sales fell 26% to $5.14 billion even after a September price increase, as rising memory costs force phone makers to raise prices. Automotive revenue rose 89% to $1.99 billion.
For the current quarter Qualcomm guided revenue of $10.4 billion to $11.2 billion and earnings of $2.15 to $2.35 a share, against analyst expectations of $2.27, CNBC said. The stock fell 7% in extended trading.
The data center pitch#
Amon said Qualcomm recently signed a customer for optical connectivity and has engaged a global hyperscaler, CNBC reported. In its release, Qualcomm said it expects non-handset revenue to grow more than 60% in fiscal 2027 and highlighted a multi-generational product collaboration with Amazon on AI data centers. The Verge reported that Qualcomm is aiming for $15 billion of data center revenue by 2029 and expects data centers eventually to be about 30% of its business. The scale it is chasing is set by rivals such as AMD, whose data center sales hit $8.55 billion last quarter.
Limits#
- The $650 million is a figure Amon gave on the call, as reported by CNBC; Qualcomm does not report data center revenue as its own segment.
- The Verge described the roughly $650 million as a forecast for the current quarter rather than past revenue; we follow CNBC's account, which matches the call quotes it published.
- The $5 billion and $15 billion figures are targets, and Amon says supply, not demand, is the constraint.