QCOM vs TXN Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Qualcomm and Texas Instruments both offer semiconductor dividend income, but Qualcomm's growth is tied to smartphone chipset demand, licensing royalties, and emerging edge-AI and automotive diversification, while Texas Instruments remains a broad, diversified analog and embedded chip supplier tied to the industrial and automotive capital spending cycle.
Qualcomm offers a blend of stable licensing income and growth optionality from automotive and edge-AI chip diversification, while Texas Instruments offers a more classic, broadly diversified analog chip compounder with a longer dividend growth history. Consider whether you prefer Qualcomm's mobile-and-edge-AI growth angle or Texas Instruments' industrial cycle exposure.
TXN holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. TXN has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+32.03% vs +7.29%), though QCOM has the better forward P/E setup (16.09x vs 24.30x for TXN). TXN leads on both revenue growth (22.80%) and operating margin (42.58%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for TXN (+25.55%) 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.
- Want exposure to smartphone chipset leadership plus growing automotive and edge-AI diversification
- Value the stable, high-margin licensing royalty stream alongside chip sales
- Believe on-device AI processing will become a meaningful new growth driver
- Are comfortable with slower core smartphone market growth in exchange for diversification upside
- Prefer a diversified analog and embedded chip business with thousands of customers across many industries
- Value a multi-decade track record of consistent dividend growth
- Believe an eventual industrial and automotive chip cycle recovery will drive renewed growth
- Are comfortable with a more cyclical, less AI-driven growth profile in exchange for lower customer concentration
| Metric | QCOM | TXN |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 49.8 | 52.6 |
| AI ranki | #470 | #309 |
| Latest closei | $168.74 | $258.44 |
| 1M returni | +7.12% | -6.94% |
| 6M returni | +23.17% | +30.54% |
| 1Y returni | +7.29% | +32.03% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | QCOM | TXN |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.57K (+5.7%) started 2025-09-04 | $13.8K (+38.0%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $13.71K (+37.1%) started 2021-09-07 | $17.04K (+70.4%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $44.25K (+342.5%) started 2016-09-06 | $61.73K (+517.3%) started 2016-09-06 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | QCOM | TXN |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $175.36B | $236.2B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 18.76 | 39.37 |
| Forward P/Ei | 16.09 | 24.30 |
| Price/Salesi | 3.88 | 10.89 |
| EV/Revenuei | 4.07 | 12.51 |
| Analyst targeti | $193.10 | $324.71 |
| Target upsidei | +17.61% | +25.55% |
| Metric | QCOM | TXN |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | -4.00% | 22.80% |
| Earnings growthi | -23.00% | 51.80% |
| EPS growthi | -23.00% | +51.80% |
| FCF margini | +23.24% | +18.22% |
| Operating margini | 18.53% | 42.58% |
| Profit margini | 21.01% | 31.11% |
| ROIC proxyi | 33.75% | 35.18% |
| Return on equityi | 33.75% | 35.18% |
| Dividend yieldi | 2.23% | 2.20% |
| Betai | 1.66 | 1.32 |
| Debt/equityi | 55.21 | 78.04 |
| Current ratioi | 2.02 | 4.86 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.14 | 3.25 |
Over the past year, QCOM and TXN have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.43), 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 | QCOM | TXN |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +5.65% | +37.99% |
| CAGRi | +5.66% | +38.05% | |
| Volatilityi | 52.28% | 42.16% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.28 | 0.86 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.42 | 1.46 | |
| Max drawdowni | 41.20% | 23.76% | |
| Current drawdowni | 32.78% | 22.22% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 17.26% | 8.09% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 21.16% | 10.32% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.46% | 8.46% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.52% | 14.08% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +26.71% | +52.10% |
| CAGRi | +4.86% | +8.76% | |
| Volatilityi | 42.23% | 33.62% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.22 | 0.28 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.31 | 0.42 | |
| Max drawdowni | 44.50% | 33.41% | |
| Current drawdowni | 32.78% | 22.22% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 25.44% | 11.46% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 27.95% | 13.34% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.46% | 13.34% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.52% | 17.97% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +239.20% | +371.00% |
| CAGRi | +13.00% | +16.77% | |
| Volatilityi | 39.77% | 31.75% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.39 | 0.51 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.58 | 0.74 | |
| Max drawdowni | 44.50% | 33.41% | |
| Current drawdowni | 32.78% | 22.22% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 19.31% | 8.48% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 22.69% | 10.96% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.95% | 13.34% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.52% | 17.97% |
| Category | QCOM | TXN |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Qualcomm Incorporated | Texas Instruments Incorporated |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Semiconductors | Semiconductors |
| Core business | Designs mobile chipsets (Snapdragon) and licenses wireless patents, with growing diversification into automotive, IoT, and on-device AI processing (edge AI) chips. | Manufactures analog and embedded processing chips used across industrial, automotive, personal electronics, and communications equipment, with a long history of in-house manufacturing investment. |
| Investor focus | Smartphone chipset market share and pricing, licensing revenue stability, and diversification into automotive and edge-AI chip revenue. | Analog chip cycle recovery, industrial and automotive end-market demand, capital expenditure on manufacturing capacity, and dividend growth. |
- Dominant position in premium Android smartphone chipsets with strong technology leadership
- High-margin licensing business provides a stable royalty revenue stream independent of chip volumes
- Growing automotive and IoT chip business diversifies revenue beyond smartphones
- Broad, diversified analog and embedded chip portfolio serving thousands of customers across many industries
- In-house manufacturing (300mm wafer fabs) gives long-term cost and supply advantages over fabless competitors
- Multi-decade track record of consistent dividend growth supported by strong free cash flow
- Smartphone unit growth has slowed globally, capping the core handset chipset business
- Customer concentration risk, including any potential loss of chipset business from major Android OEMs or Apple modem transitions
- Licensing revenue subject to periodic legal and regulatory disputes
- Analog chip demand is cyclical and closely tied to industrial and automotive capital spending cycles
- Heavy capital expenditure on new fab capacity pressures near-term free cash flow
- Slower growth profile than AI-exposed semiconductor peers during AI infrastructure upcycles
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