Delaware jury finds Arm breached Qualcomm license but awards just $2 in damages

A federal jury in Delaware found on Tuesday that Arm Holdings (ARM) breached its Architecture License Agreement with QCOM and interfered with Qualcomm's business relationship with Meta, but awarded only nominal damages of $1 on each of the two claims, $2 in total. Arm said in a statement that the jury found for Arm on four other claims.

Qualcomm said it was "gratified" that the jury found Arm breached the agreement, "failed to honor its commitments, and intentionally acted to disrupt Qualcomm's businesses". Arm countered that the award of only two dollars "confirms the merit of Arm's arguments in the case." Qualcomm's case centered on allegations that Arm withheld software patches and chip-testing tools needed for its Oryon CPU cores, and that a leaked 2024 letter warning of license termination cost it a potential Meta deal worth about $170 million.

The money is symbolic, but the leverage is not settled. Judge Maryellen Noreika still has to decide whether Qualcomm can stop paying royalties to Arm for five years and whether Arm negotiated in good faith over its next technology version. This was the second trial between the companies in two years. In the earlier case, which Arm brought over Qualcomm's $1.4 billion Nuvia acquisition, a December 2024 jury sided with Qualcomm, and Arm has appealed; the license runs through 2033.

Arm shares fell after the verdict, with reported intraday declines ranging from about 1% to more than 3%, while Qualcomm closed up about 1.4% at $176.86, according to SentiSense market data. The judge's rulings on royalties and good-faith negotiation are the next catalyst, and they matter far more to both companies than the $2 award.