QUALCOMM INC/DE (QCOM) as of March 29, 2026 presents a deeply negative liquidation recovery posture, consistent with a capital-intensive IP-and-semiconductor business whose going-concern value is almost entirely intangible. Total reported assets are $57.1B against total liabilities of $29.9B, yielding $27.3B book equity. Under liquidation haircuts, recovery collapses materially. The highest-quality liquid assets are cash and cash equivalents of $5.4B (100% recovery) and marketable securities of $4.4B (treated near 100% for liquid fixed income; equity mark-to-market holdings carry additional risk). Accounts and other receivables of $4.3B recover at 90-95%, or approximately $3.9-4.1B. Inventory of $7.4B — dominated by $4.3B WIP and $2.4B finished goods — recovers at roughly 60%, or approximately $4.4B; WIP semiconductor inventory in particular carries high obsolescence and specificity risk, supporting the low end of that range. PP&E net of $5.1B recovers at 50-70%, or approximately $2.5-3.6B. Intangibles ex-goodwill of $1.6B and goodwill of $14.3B both recover at 0% under standard liquidation conventions; combined they represent $15.8B of zero-recovery assets on the balance sheet, the single largest driver of the negative recovery gap. Deferred tax assets of $6.0B, which arose from the Q2 FY2026 release of a $5.7B federal valuation allowance, carry 0% liquidation value — they are entity-specific, non-transferable, and extinguish on windup. Other non-current assets of $7.2B are largely 0% recoverable under liquidation assumptions. On the liability side, total debt at face value is $15.3B ($14.8B long-term, $498M commercial paper). Additional fixed liabilities include $9.8B current liabilities (accounts payable $3.0B, accrued employee $1.4B, other current $4.6B, accrued taxes $508M), $5.2B other non-current liabilities, and $393M deferred revenue. Unrecognized tax benefits of $2.9B represent a contingent liability not fully reflected in reported current figures. Rough liquidation recovery to equity: approximately $20-22B in gross recoverable assets against $29.9B in face-value liabilities, implying negative equity recovery of approximately $8-10B. This is broadly consistent with the MFFAIS CLV/LLV of -$18.6B (which applies more conservative haircuts across the board) and OLV of -$11.2B. The dominant driver of the negative recovery gap is the intangible and goodwill stack ($15.8B) combined with the newly recognized deferred tax asset ($6.0B) that evaporates on liquidation. No prior filing provided for comparison; the largest period-specific change is the $5.7B DTA recognition and associated goodwill increment from the Alphawave acquisition closed in Q1 FY2026.
▼ Community Notes