Qualcomm vs Volkswagen: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Qualcomm reported $44.3B of revenue in FY2025 and $5.5B of net income. Volkswagen reported ~$363.8B of revenue in FY2025 and ~$7.5B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Qualcomm
- Latest revenue
- $44.3B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $5.5B
- Net margin
- 12.5%
- Revenue growth
- +7.3% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Volkswagen
- Latest revenue
- ~$363.8B (FY2025)
- Net income
- ~$7.5B
- Net margin
- 2.1%
- Revenue growth
- +6.5% a year, FY2021–FY2025
Financial summary
Qualcomm
Qualcomm's revenue has swung with the smartphone cycle: $44.2B in FY2022, $35.8B in FY2023, $39.0B in FY2024 and a record $44.284B in FY2025. FY2025 operating income was $12.355B, but GAAP net income dropped to $5.541B because of a large non-cash income tax charge booked in the September 2025 quarter. FY2026 has been tougher on the top line. Q2 revenue was $10.599B, and Q3 revenue fell 4% year over year to $9.9B with GAAP EPS of $1.87 and non-GAAP EPS of $2.21, as higher memory costs squeezed handset demand. QTL revenue was $1.3B in Q3. Qualcomm returned $2.3B to shareholders that quarter and guided Q4 FY2026 revenue to $9.7B-$10.5B.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen Group reported ~$364 billion (EUR 321.9 billion) in 2025 sales revenue, slightly below ~$367 billion (EUR 324.7 billion) in 2024, and an operating result of ~$10.1 billion (EUR 8.9 billion), a 2.8% margin. Earnings were held down by U.S. tariffs, restructuring provisions, the cost of Porsche's product strategy change, and weaker results from the Chinese joint ventures. Deliveries were broadly stable at 8.984 million vehicles. The December 2024 agreement with IG Metall for the Volkswagen brand in Germany avoids compulsory redundancies but plans to cut more than 35,000 jobs by 2030 through attrition and early retirement, and to reduce German plant capacity. In the first half of 2026 sales revenue was about $179 billion (EUR 158.1 billion), roughly flat, while the operating result fell 11.6% to about $6.67 billion (EUR 5.9 billion) (3.8% margin). In September 2026 Volkswagen cut its full-year forecast to about $356 billion (EUR 315 billion) in sales revenue and an operating margin of up to 1%, citing China, a faster shift to EVs, a roughly $6.78 billion (EUR 6 billion) goodwill impairment on the Porsche segment, and extra restructuring and China impairments.
Revenue and profit by year
Qualcomm
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $44.3B | $5.5B | 12.5% | +13.7% | Source |
| FY2024 | $39B | $10.1B | 26.0% | +8.8% | Source |
| FY2023 | $35.8B | $7.2B | 20.2% | -19.0% | Source |
| FY2022 | $44.2B | $12.9B | 29.3% | +31.7% | Source |
| FY2021 | $33.6B | $9B | 26.9% | +42.6% | Source |
| FY2020 | $23.5B | $5.2B | 22.1% | -3.1% | Source |
| FY2019 | $24.3B | $4.4B | 18.1% | +7.4% | Source |
| FY2018 | $22.6B | -$5B | -22.0% | +1.6% | Source |
| FY2017 | $22.3B | $2.4B | 11.0% | -5.5% | Source |
| FY2016 | $23.6B | $5.7B | 24.2% | — | Source |
Volkswagen
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | ~$363.8B | ~$7.5B | 2.1% | -0.8% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$366.9B | ~$12.1B | 3.3% | +0.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$364.2B | ~$18B | 4.9% | +15.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | ~$315.3B | ~$16.8B | 5.3% | +11.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | ~$282.7B | ~$16.8B | 5.9% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Qualcomm
- QCT Handsets~63%
Snapdragon processors, modems and RF chips for smartphones: $27.793B in FY2025. Handset revenue fell 20% to $5.1B in Q3 FY2026 as memory costs hurt phone demand.
- QCT IoT~15%
Chips for industrial devices, networking, XR headsets, PCs and consumer electronics: $6.617B in FY2025 and $1.8B in Q3 FY2026.
- QCT Automotive~9%
Snapdragon Digital Chassis cockpit, ADAS and connectivity platforms: $3.957B in FY2025, up from $2.9B in FY2024, and $1.6B in Q3 FY2026 (up 61%).
- QTL Licensing and other~13%
Royalties on Qualcomm's cellular patents plus smaller strategic initiatives. QTL revenue was $1.3B in Q3 FY2026 at a 69% EBT margin, making it a disproportionate profit contributor.
Volkswagen
- Passenger vehicle sales
- Premium and luxury vehicle sales
- Commercial vehicles
- Parts and aftersales
- Financial services
- Leasing and fleet services
- Software and mobility services
Business model and strategy
Qualcomm
How it makes money
Qualcomm earns money in two ways. QCT (Qualcomm CDMA Technologies) designs Snapdragon systems-on-chip, modems, RF front-end and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chips and sells them to handset, automotive, PC and IoT customers; manufacturing is outsourced to foundries such as TSMC and Samsung. QCT produced $38.367B of FY2025 revenue, including $27.793B from handsets, $6.617B from IoT and $3.957B from automotive.
Growth strategy
Qualcomm's growth plan is to reuse Snapdragon's low-power compute, connectivity and AI engines outside phones. Automotive is the clearest win so far, with the Snapdragon Digital Chassis growing from $2.9B in FY2024 to $3.957B in FY2025 and $1.6B in Q3 FY2026 alone. Snapdragon X chips target Windows Copilot+ laptops. Industrial IoT and robotics carry a design-win pipeline above $7B.
Competitive advantage
Qualcomm's edge comes from pairing leading cellular modem and RF engineering with one of the largest portfolios of standard-essential wireless patents. That combination lets it sell integrated Snapdragon platforms (CPU, GPU, NPU, modem and RF) while still collecting royalties on phones that use rival chips. Its custom Oryon CPU cores, from the 2021 Nuvia deal, now run in both flagship phone and Windows PC chips.
Volkswagen
How it makes money
Volkswagen earns most of its revenue by selling new cars, vans, trucks and buses through brand groups: Core (Volkswagen, Skoda, SEAT/CUPRA, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles), Progressive (Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Ducati), Sport Luxury (Porsche) and TRATON (Scania, MAN, International, Volkswagen Truck & Bus).
Growth strategy
Volkswagen's growth strategy centers on cost reduction, platform simplification, brand accountability, premium profitability, China-specific EV development, battery and software investment, hybrid and combustion optimization where demand remains strong, and selective partnerships such as Rivian and XPeng.
Competitive advantage
Volkswagen's advantage is industrial scale plus brand breadth. Few competitors can cover entry-level European cars, global volume SUVs, Audi premium vehicles, Porsche sports cars, Lamborghini supercars, Bentley luxury cars, Ducati motorcycles, Scania and MAN trucks, and a major financial services arm. The purchasing leverage and installed dealer base are hard to replicate.
Questions about Qualcomm vs Volkswagen
Which company has higher revenue — Qualcomm Inc. or Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
Qualcomm Inc. reported $44.3B (FY2025), while Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft reported ~$363.8B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft is the larger business, with Qualcomm Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Qualcomm Inc. vs Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
Qualcomm Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $208.0B, while Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft's is $35.5B. Qualcomm Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft.
Which is more financially efficient — Qualcomm Inc. or Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
Qualcomm Inc. generates $852k / employee in revenue per employee, while Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft generates $549k / employee. Qualcomm Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Qualcomm Inc. and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft make money?
Qualcomm Inc. and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Qualcomm Inc.: Qualcomm earns money in two ways. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft: Volkswagen earns most of its revenue by selling new cars, vans, trucks and buses through brand groups: Core (Volkswagen, Skoda, SEAT/CUPRA, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles), Progressive (Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Ducati), Sport Luxury (Porsche) and TRATON (Scania, MAN, International, Volkswagen Truck & Bus).
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Qualcomm Inc. or Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Qualcomm Inc. trades at 4.7x P/S and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft at 0.1x P/S. Qualcomm Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Qualcomm Inc. bigger than Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
By last reported revenue, Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (~$363.8B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Qualcomm Inc. ($44.3B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Qualcomm vs Volkswagen overview