Qualcomm 'gratified' after jury finds Arm breached license agreement

Arm's stock experienced a decline of more than 3% on Tuesday after a Delaware jury sided with rival Qualcomm in a contract dispute. The jury found that Arm had breached its licensing agreement with Qualcomm, failed to meet its obligations, and deliberately acted to hinder Qualcomm's operations. Qualcomm's legal team hailed the ruling as a victory for innovation and competition.

However, the jury's decision did not specify any awarded damages. Qualcomm's stock showed a brief gain before settling up 2% following the verdict. The legal conflict stems from Arm's 2022 lawsuit against Qualcomm over alleged contract breaches after Qualcomm's $1.4 billion purchase of Nuvia. Qualcomm emerged victorious in a jury verdict in December 2024, which was confirmed in September 2025.

Arm subsequently appealed the decision. In the ongoing case, Qualcomm accused Arm of multiple breaches of their licensing pact, which remains in effect until 2033. These alleged infractions included withholding software updates and testing tools essential for validating Qualcomm's bespoke Oryon CPU cores. Additionally, Qualcomm contended that Arm neglected to adhere to a pricing framework that sought to maintain Qualcomm's royalty payments at 10% below the lowest available design costs.

Furthermore, Qualcomm claimed Arm had deliberately leaked a 2024 license termination notice to Bloomberg, an act that Qualcomm asserted harmed the company's standing and potentially cost it around $170 million in a prospective agreement with Meta Platforms.