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 NVIDIA Corporation 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 NVIDIA Corporation and QUALCOMM Incorporated compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About NVIDIA Corporation and QUALCOMM Incorporated

NVIDIA Corporation operates as a data center scale AI infrastructure company. The company operates through two segments, Compute & Networking, and Graphics segments. The Compute & Networking segment provides data center accelerated computing and networking platforms and artificial intelligence solutions and software, and automotive platforms and autonomous and electric vehicle solutions, including software. The Graphics segment offers GeForce GPUs for gaming and PCs; Quadro/NVIDIA RTX GPUs for enterprise workstation graphics. The company’s products are used in gaming, professional visualization, data center, and automotive markets. The company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers, original device manufacturers, system integrators and distributors, independent software vendors, cloud service providers, add-in board manufacturers, distributors, automotive manufacturers and tier-1 automotive suppliers, and other ecosystem participants worldwide. It has a collaboration with Tech Mahindra Limited to develop artificial intelligence powered telco network operations reasoning agent. The company has a strategic partnership with Lumentum Holdings Inc. to develop optics technologies for AI and data centers. It also has a strategic partnership with Nebius Group N.V. to develop and deploy hyperscale cloud for the artificial intelligence market; and has a strategic partnership with IREN Limited to accelerate deployment of up to 5 gigawatts of infrastructure. NVIDIA Corporation was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

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 NVIDIA Corporation, QUALCOMM Incorporated Stock News

As of May 20, 2026, NVIDIA Corporation had a $5.4 trillion market capitalization, compared to the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment median of $5.2 million. NVIDIA Corporation’s stock is up 17.7% in 2026, down 6.9% in the previous five trading days and up 64.84% in the past year.

Currently, NVIDIA Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 45.6. NVIDIA Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $215.9 billion with a 55.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 73.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $8.371 per share for the current fiscal year. NVIDIA Corporation does not currently pay a dividend.

As of May 20, 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 21.1% in 2026, up 3.6% in the previous five trading days and up 31.78% 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 $10.796 per share for the current fiscal year. QUALCOMM Incorporated currently has a 1.8% dividend yield.

How We Compare NVIDIA Corporation 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 NVIDIA Corporation and QUALCOMM Incorporated’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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NVIDIA Corporation and QUALCOMM Incorporated Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
NVIDIA Corporation	NVDA	B
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.

NVIDIA Corporation has a Growth Score of 69, which is Strong. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a Growth Score of 83, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: QUALCOMM Incorporated

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, QUALCOMM Incorporated has a more attractive growth grade than NVIDIA Corporation. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, QUALCOMM Incorporated could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

NVIDIA Corporation and QUALCOMM Incorporated’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
NVIDIA Corporation	NVDA	A
QUALCOMM Incorporated	QCOM	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks 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 the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

NVIDIA Corporation has a Quality Score of 84, which is Very Strong. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a Quality Score of 96, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both NVIDIA Corporation and QUALCOMM Incorporated have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

NVIDIA Corporation and QUALCOMM Incorporated’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
NVIDIA Corporation	NVDA	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.

NVIDIA Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 61, which is Positive. QUALCOMM Incorporated has a Earnings Estimate Score of 45, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: NVIDIA Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, NVIDIA Corporation 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, NVIDIA Corporation 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 NVIDIA Corporation and QUALCOMM Incorporated Grades

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

Momentum grades help 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.

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.

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 NVIDIA Corporation and QUALCOMM Incorporated pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, NVIDIA Corporation or QUALCOMM Incorporated Stock?

Overall, NVIDIA Corporation stock has a Growth Score of 69, Estimate Revisions Score of 61 and Quality Score of 84.

QUALCOMM Incorporated stock has a Growth Score of 83, Estimate Revisions Score of 45 and Quality Score of 96.

Comparing NVIDIA Corporation 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.