Sifting through countless of stocks in the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Arm Holdings plc or QUALCOMM Incorporated because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Arm Holdings plc and QUALCOMM Incorporated compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Arm Holdings plc and QUALCOMM Incorporated

Arm Holdings plc architects, develops, and licenses central processing unit products and related technologies for semiconductor companies and original equipment manufacturers. The company is involved in the licensing, marketing, research, and development of microprocessors, systems intellectual property (IPs), graphics processing units, physical IP and associated systems IPs, software, tools, and other related services. It also offers arm central processing units, accelerators, system IP products, and compute platform products, as well as development tools and software. The company’s products are used in various markets, such as automotive, computing infrastructure, consumer technologies, and Internet of things. It operates in the United States, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, and internationally. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom. Arm Holdings plc operates as a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp.

QUALCOMM Incorporated engages in the development and commercialization of foundational technologies for the wireless industry worldwide. It operates through three segments: Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT); Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL); and Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives (QSI). The QCT segment develops and supplies integrated circuits and system software with connectivity and computing technologies for use in mobile devices; automotive systems for connectivity, digital cockpit, and ADAS/AD; and IoT, including consumer electronic devices, industrial devices, and edge networking products. The QTL segment grants licenses or provides rights to use portions of its intellectual property portfolio, which include various patent rights useful in the manufacture and sale of wireless products comprising products implementing LTE, and/or OFDMA-based 5G products and derivatives; to use cellular standard-essential patents, including 3G, 4G and 5G for cellular devices. The QSI segment invests in early-stage companies in various industries, including 5G, artificial intelligence, automotive, consumer, enterprise, cloud, IoT, and extended reality, and investments, including non-marketable equity securities and, to a lesser extent, marketable equity securities, and convertible debt instruments. It also provides development, and other services and sells related products to the United States government agencies and their contractors. In addition, the company is also involved in Qualcomm government technologies and data center businesses. QUALCOMM Incorporated was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Latest Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment and Arm Holdings plc, QUALCOMM Incorporated Stock News

As of May 7, 2026, Arm Holdings plc had a $227.0 billion market capitalization, compared to the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment median of $4.8 million. Arm Holdings plc’s stock is up 95.1% in 2026, up 1% in the previous five trading days and up 74.23% in the past year.

Currently, Arm Holdings plc’s price-earnings ratio is 284.4. Arm Holdings plc’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.7 billion with a 17.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 26.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.763 per share for the current fiscal year. Arm Holdings plc does not currently pay a dividend.

As of May 7, 2026, QUALCOMM Incorporated had a $213.5 billion market cap, putting it in the 99th percentile of all stocks. QUALCOMM Incorporated’s stock is up 26.7% in 2026, up 22.4% in the previous five trading days and up 44.8% in the past year.

Currently, QUALCOMM Incorporated’s price-earnings ratio is 22.1. QUALCOMM Incorporated’s trailing 12-month revenue is $44.5 billion with a 22.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -3.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $10.730 per share for the current fiscal year. QUALCOMM Incorporated currently has a 1.8% dividend yield.

How We Compare Arm Holdings plc and QUALCOMM Incorporated Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Arm Holdings plc and QUALCOMM Incorporated’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Arm Holdings plc and QUALCOMM Incorporated Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Arm Holdings plc	ARM	na
QUALCOMM Incorporated	QCOM	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Arm Holdings plc does not have a meaningful Growth Score. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a Growth Score of 83, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Stock Winner: Undetermined

If you are strictly a growth investor, you may want to add QUALCOMM Incorporated to your watch list. However, because only one of the companies in this comparison has a valid Growth Grade, we cannot call it a clear winner. Evaluation of the other grades for both companies is necessary in order to understand which stock is the better investment based on AAII’s proprietary scores and analysis.

Arm Holdings plc and QUALCOMM Incorporated’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Arm Holdings plc	ARM	A
QUALCOMM Incorporated	QCOM	A

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Arm Holdings plc has a Momentum Score of 91, which is Very Strong. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a Momentum Score of 82, which is Very Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Momentum Grade breakdown above, both Arm Holdings plc and QUALCOMM Incorporated have a grade of A. For those who focus solely on a company’s momentum, further research will need to be conducted into both companies to see if they fit your individual needs as an investor.

Arm Holdings plc and QUALCOMM Incorporated’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Arm Holdings plc	ARM	B
QUALCOMM Incorporated	QCOM	C

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Arm Holdings plc has a Earnings Estimate Score of 64, which is Positive. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a Earnings Estimate Score of 43, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Arm Holdings plc

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Arm Holdings plc has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than QUALCOMM Incorporated. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Arm Holdings plc could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Arm Holdings plc and QUALCOMM Incorporated Grades

In addition to Momentum, Estimate Revisions and Growth, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Quality.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Arm Holdings plc and QUALCOMM Incorporated pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Arm Holdings plc or QUALCOMM Incorporated Stock?

Overall, Arm Holdings plc stock has a Growth Score of , Momentum Score of 91 and Estimate Revisions Score of 64.

QUALCOMM Incorporated stock has a Growth Score of 83, Momentum Score of 82 and Estimate Revisions Score of 43.

Comparing Arm Holdings plc and QUALCOMM Incorporated’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.