Qualcomm management check
QCOM · Information Technology · Semiconductors · CEO Cristiano R. Amon
Filings as of
5 good · 1 to watch · 1 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $164, against $229 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.70 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.5% of net income$29.7m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $5.5bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 1.2 years of payThe CEO holds 196,719 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 1.2 years of pay. Light activity: no buys, $12.1m sold in six months. 80 of 80 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -0.9% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 6.3% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
8 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Cristiano R. Amon. 8 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Information Technology.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 15 | 33 | |
| Pay for performance | 85 | 87 | |
| CEO cost | 72 | 35 | |
| Skin in the game | 39 | 47 | |
| Dilution | 62 | 56 | |
| Stable leadership | 85 | 85 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Semiconductors, by management score. Qualcomm is 30th of 73 in its sector.
- 20NVDANvidia86
- 101ONON Semiconductor76
- 112AVGOBroadcom75
- 117MUMicron Technology75
- 132FSLRFirst Solar73
- 235MRVLMarvell Technology66
- 236QCOMQualcomm65
- 314ADIAnalog Devices60
- 319MPWRMonolithic Power Systems60
- 373TXNTexas Instruments56
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed January 22, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Cristiano R. Amon | $29.7m | $29.6m | $10.5m | $164 | $229 | $5.5bn |
| 2024 | — | $25.9m | $48.4m | $10.3m | $162 | $185 | $10.1bn |
| 2023 | — | $23.5m | $8.6m | $8.1m | $100 | $135 | $7.2bn |
| 2022 | — | $4.8m | $5.2m | $4.4m | $110 | $103 | $12.9bn |
| 2021 | — | $20.6m | $40.8m | $8.1m | $119 | $138 | $9.0bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Adjusted EPS. Its other key measures: Relative Total Stockholder Return (RTSR), Adjusted Earnings Per Share (Adjusted EPS), Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Revenues.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Cristiano R Amon (President & CEO) held 196,719 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Oct 15, 2026, roughly $35.1m at that filing's price.
Light activity: no buys, $12.1m sold in six months. 80 of 80 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldCristiano R AmonPresident & CEO · 10b5-1 plan$7.6mSep 25, 2026
- SoldAkash J. PalkhiwalaEVP, CFO & COO · 10b5-1 plan$2.8mOct 20, 2026
- SoldHeather S AceEVP, Chief HR Officer · 10b5-1 plan$1.0mAug 3, 2026
- SoldPatricia Y GrechSVP, Chief Accounting Officer · 10b5-1 plan$356kOct 2, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Jan 16, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 16, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 2, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 25, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 13, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 12, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 9, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 23, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 8, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Mar 19, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $22.4bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 50% of net income, and $11.6bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $33.6bn | $44.2bn | $35.8bn | $39.0bn | $44.3bn |
| Net income | $9.0bn | $12.9bn | $7.2bn | $10.1bn | $5.5bn |
| Stock-based pay | $1.7bn | $2.0bn | $2.5bn | $2.6bn | $2.8bn |
| Buybacks | $3.4bn | $3.1bn | $3.0bn | $4.1bn | $8.8bn |
| Dividends | — | — | — | — | — |
| Diluted shares | 1149m | 1137m | 1126m | 1130m | 1105m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.