NXPI vs QCOM Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
NXP Semiconductors and Qualcomm are both major semiconductor companies with automotive exposure, but very different core businesses. NXP is the world's largest automotive chip company — focused primarily on vehicle electronics. Qualcomm is primarily a mobile chip and 5G patent company expanding into automotive. NXP's automotive chips cover low-level vehicle control (MCUs, radar, networking); Qualcomm's Snapdragon Digital Chassis targets higher-level vehicle computing and infotainment.
NXPI vs QCOM is the world's largest automotive semiconductor company with deep vehicle electronic control unit coverage and NFC mobile payment leadership (NXP) versus the mobile chip and 5G patent royalty leader expanding automotive presence through Snapdragon Digital Chassis (Qualcomm) — pure automotive semiconductor depth vs diversified mobile/royalty platform with automotive expansion.
NXPI holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. QCOM has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+14.19% vs +2.73%), though NXPI has the better forward P/E setup (12.36x vs 16.09x for QCOM). NXPI leads on both revenue growth (19.50%) and operating margin (30.41%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for NXPI (+39.15%) than for QCOM (+17.61%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- prefer the world's largest automotive chip company with the broadest vehicle electronic content per car including MCUs, radar, and networking chips
- value NXP's content growth with every vehicle sold — electronic content per car increases with each model year, growing NXP's automotive SAM organically
- want automotive semiconductor recovery exposure with broader vehicle type diversification than EV-focused competitors — NXP serves ICE, HEV, and BEV equally
- are comfortable with prolonged automotive inventory correction, Renesas/Infineon/TI competition, and China automotive demand variability
- prefer Qualcomm's 5G patent royalty income as a durable, competitively-protected revenue stream from every 5G device manufacturer regardless of chip winner
- value Snapdragon X Elite PC chip as meaningful diversification from smartphone dependency into the large Windows PC market
- want automotive exposure through Snapdragon Digital Chassis with connected vehicle computing growth alongside mobile and licensing businesses
- are comfortable with Apple modem development reducing iPhone Snapdragon content, MediaTek competition in premium Android, and automotive competing with NXP/Renesas for vehicle compute design wins
| Metric | NXPI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 52.8 | 51.6 |
| AI ranki | #373 | #447 |
| Latest closei | $227.95 | $188.71 |
| 1M returni | -0.27% | +17.80% |
| 6M returni | +18.51% | +43.75% |
| 1Y returni | +2.73% | +14.19% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | NXPI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.06K (+0.6%) started 2025-09-18 | $11.22K (+12.2%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $12.83K (+28.3%) started 2021-09-20 | $16.61K (+66.1%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $34.01K (+240.1%) started 2016-09-19 | $49.66K (+396.6%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | NXPI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $56.38B | $175.36B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 19.08 | 18.76 |
| Forward P/Ei | 12.36 | 16.09 |
| Price/Salesi | 4.26 | 3.88 |
| EV/Revenuei | 4.89 | 4.07 |
| Analyst targeti | $311.10 | $193.10 |
| Target upsidei | +39.15% | +17.61% |
| Metric | NXPI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 19.50% | -4.00% |
| Earnings growthi | 72.60% | -23.00% |
| EPS growthi | +72.60% | -23.00% |
| FCF margini | +26.96% | +23.24% |
| Operating margini | 30.41% | 18.53% |
| Profit margini | 22.56% | 21.01% |
| ROIC proxyi | 27.92% | 33.75% |
| Return on equityi | 27.92% | 33.75% |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.80% | 2.23% |
| Payout ratioi | 34.61% | 41.03% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.82 | 1.66 |
| Debt/equityi | 93.33 | 55.21 |
| Current ratioi | 2.04 | 2.02 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.19 | 1.14 |
Over the past year, NXPI and QCOM have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.55), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | NXPI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +0.64% | +12.24% |
| CAGRi | +0.64% | +12.25% | |
| Volatilityi | 49.45% | 52.72% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.16 | 0.40 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.26 | 0.60 | |
| Max drawdowni | 34.18% | 41.20% | |
| Current drawdowni | 31.48% | 24.82% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.26% | 18.30% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 16.01% | 21.83% | |
| Max daily dropi | 8.15% | 11.46% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 16.25% | 23.52% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +19.98% | +53.44% |
| CAGRi | +3.71% | +8.95% | |
| Volatilityi | 42.27% | 42.28% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.19 | 0.31 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.28 | 0.45 | |
| Max drawdowni | 46.47% | 44.50% | |
| Current drawdowni | 31.48% | 24.82% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 19.31% | 25.44% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 21.90% | 28.01% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.25% | 11.46% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 19.21% | 23.52% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +204.88% | +280.73% |
| CAGRi | +11.80% | +14.31% | |
| Volatilityi | 41.07% | 39.79% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.37 | 0.42 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.55 | 0.62 | |
| Max drawdowni | 53.26% | 44.50% | |
| Current drawdowni | 31.48% | 24.82% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 15.51% | 19.40% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 19.46% | 22.75% | |
| Max daily dropi | 19.38% | 14.95% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 35.51% | 23.52% |
| Category | NXPI | QCOM |
|---|---|---|
| Company | NXP Semiconductors N.V. | Qualcomm Incorporated |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Semiconductors | Semiconductors |
| Core business | NXP Semiconductors is the world's largest automotive chip company, providing MCUs, processors, radar, secure elements, and networking chips for vehicles globally. NXP's automotive revenues are diversified across vehicle types (EV and ICE) and applications (ADAS, body electronics, powertrain, connectivity). Beyond automotive, NXP serves industrial IoT, mobile payment (NFC), and communication infrastructure. Automotive is 55%+ of NXP revenue and is growing with vehicle electronic content increasing each generation. | Qualcomm designs Snapdragon mobile processors for Android smartphones, PCs (Snapdragon X Elite), and automotive (Snapdragon Digital Chassis). Qualcomm also earns substantial patent licensing royalties from 5G technology — every 5G smartphone manufacturer pays Qualcomm royalties regardless of whose chip is inside. Qualcomm's automotive business (Snapdragon Digital Chassis) is growing as vehicles adopt connected computing capabilities beyond traditional automotive MCUs. |
| Investor focus | Investors track automotive revenue recovery from inventory correction, ADAS radar content expansion per vehicle, and NXP's vehicle network compute (S32) platform adoption. | Investors track Snapdragon Android handset revenue, Snapdragon X Elite PC chip adoption, automotive design win announcements, and licensing (QTL) royalty income stability. |
- Broadest automotive semiconductor portfolio covering all electronic control unit types — more chips per car than any single competitor
- Automotive revenue is structurally growing: vehicle electronic content per car increases with each model year regardless of whether ICE or EV
- NFC (Near Field Communication) leadership in mobile payment chips — embedded in every contactless payment and mobile wallet transaction
- 5G patent royalty income (QTL) generates $9B+ annually from licensing any 5G device manufacturer — a durable income stream separate from chip competition
- Snapdragon X Elite PC chip competing with Apple M-series for Windows on ARM laptop performance — diversifying from smartphone chip dependency
- Automotive Snapdragon Digital Chassis: connected vehicle compute platform adopted by multiple OEMs (Mercedes, BMW, Hyundai, Renault) for infotainment and ADAS compute
- Automotive inventory correction has been prolonged — NXP's near-term revenue recovery depends on Tier 1 suppliers depleting excess chip inventory
- Renesas, Infineon, TI, and ST all compete across NXP's automotive chip product categories
- China automotive production volumes are a significant source of NXP automotive revenue — China OEM production fluctuations impact NXP
- Apple's own modem development reduces Qualcomm's highest-value smartphone chip content in the world's most valuable smartphone
- MediaTek competes in premium Android Snapdragon chip market with competitive performance at lower prices
- Automotive Snapdragon Digital Chassis competes with NXP's S32 platform for central vehicle compute architecture
Want deeper AI forecasts?
This comparison page is public and free forever. Subscribers can unlock saved watchlists, full AI rankings, detailed forecasts, and interactive analysis tools.
Full valuation workup with AI Score, Monte Carlo forecast, and bull/bear case — free preview, premium data from $3.99.