Qualcomm, Arm Reportedly Head Back To Court With Billions In Potential Royalties At Stake

• The five-day jury trial marks the latest chapter in the two companies’ long-running legal dispute.
• Arm said Qualcomm accounted for 9% of its fiscal 2026 revenue.
• The current case is separate from Arm’s earlier Nuvia lawsuit, which remains under appeal.

Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) and Arm Holdings PLC (ARM) are reportedly returning to federal court in Delaware on Monday, with potentially billions of dollars in royalty payments at the center of the latest phase of their legal dispute.  

According to Reuters, Qualcomm alleges that Arm withheld chip-testing tools it says were due under contract and improperly disclosed its 2024 threat to terminate a key license, which Qualcomm says hurt talks with Meta Platforms (META). Arm denies breaching the contract.  

Qualcomm is seeking relief that could allow it to stop paying royalties to Arm for up to five years, potentially worth billions of dollars. Judge Maryellen Noreika is considering whether to throw out that contractual remedy, which could leave Qualcomm seeking a smaller damages claim, Reuters reported.  

A parallel bench trial will separately examine whether Arm negotiated in good faith with Qualcomm over the next version of Arm’s chip technology.

At the time of this writing, both QCOM and ARM stock traded marginally in the green in Monday’s premarket.

Arm Pushes Back On Qualcomm’s Damage Claims

Arm has argued that Qualcomm’s chip deals were speculative and that its actions did not harm the company. Reuters reported the firm also said that Qualcomm should not be allowed to seek damages over the leaked termination letter because Qualcomm had itself shared non-public details of antitrust investigations into Arm with the media.

The five-day jury trial marks the latest stage in the companies’ long-running legal dispute. Arm first sued Qualcomm in 2022 over alleged contract breaches, but Qualcomm won a key victory in 2024.

Stocktwits reached out to both Qualcomm and Arm for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Why The Qualcomm Relationship Matters To Arm

Qualcomm is a significant customer of Arm, accounting for 9% of the chip designer’s total revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026.

“We can provide no assurances regarding the outcome of either litigation or how the litigation will affect our relationship with or revenue from Qualcomm,” Arm said in its annual filing.

Arm’s filing also identifies Qualcomm as a major customer, underscoring the relationship's commercial importance beyond the courtroom.

The current case is separate from Arm’s earlier Nuvia lawsuit, which remains under appeal.

What Retail Thinks About QCOM and ARM

On Stocktwits, retail investor sentiment around QCOM stock and ARM remained in the ‘bearish’ territory.

So far this year, QCOM stock has risen around 6%, while ARM stock has more than doubled, surging over 168%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), which holds both stocks, has risen nearly 88% over the same period.

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