W.041Alphabet’s $548M of Qualcomm stock came from Qualcomm’s purchase of Modular. It is 0.28% of Qualcomm
Alphabet’s quarterly holdings filing, reported on November 6, lists 2,976,982 Qualcomm shares worth $548M at September 30. Reports framed it as a bet on Qualcomm’s data center push. Qualcomm’s own July filings show two GV funds received 3,196,261 shares when Qualcomm bought Modular, the AI software startup GV backed in 2022. At the November 5 close the stake was worth about $467M.
Where the shares came from
Qualcomm paid for Modular mostly in stock, and GV was among those paid. Qualcomm agreed in June to buy Modular, which makes software for running AI models across different chips, and said it expected to issue up to 19.2M shares to Modular’s owners. It completed the deal on July 28, according to its quarterly report, which valued the purchase at about $3.1B at that day’s closing price; Bloomberg had reported a value of about $4B in June. On July 31 Qualcomm filed a prospectus covering the resale of 17,826,566 shares. The prospectus lists GV 2021, L.P. with 2,206,989 shares and GV 2023, L.P. with 989,272, together 17.9% of the total.
The 13F shows a position that was not on the June list. Alphabet’s filing for September 30 names GV Management Company among the managers whose holdings it covers. It lists 2,976,982 Qualcomm shares, 219,279 fewer than the GV funds held in July; neither company has explained the difference. The value it gives, $547,883,767, is the share count times Qualcomm’s September 30 close of $184.04. Reuters and TipRanks reported the stake as backing Qualcomm’s data center push; The Information reported that it came through the Modular sale. Nothing in the filings reviewed for this post shows Alphabet buying Qualcomm shares in the market.
GV’s two funds got 18% of the shares Qualcomm issued for Modular
Qualcomm shares issued as payment for Modular, millions, by holder, as listed in Qualcomm’s July 31 resale prospectus (GV funds in orange), and the Qualcomm shares in Alphabet’s 13F at September 30 (outlined). The rows sum to 17,826,566.
What GV made
Modular raised $380M before the sale. GV led its $30M seed round in 2022, and returned for a $100M round led by General Catalyst in 2023 and a $250M round at $1.6B in September 2025. Qualcomm’s $3.1B is 1.9 times that last valuation; Bloomberg’s $4B would be 2.5 times. Dave Munichiello, the GV partner on Modular’s board, told Crunchbase News in June that GV’s first $23M check, at a $155M valuation, returned 27 times, and that GV made about 10 times its total investment. On those terms the first check alone would be worth about $621M.
The shares have moved more than the headline suggests. At $151.60 on July 30, the price in the prospectus, 2,976,982 shares were worth $451M. They rose to $548M by September 30, then fell back to $467M at the November 5 close, after Qualcomm dropped 9.5% the day after its quarterly results, amid a broad selloff in chip stocks that W.038 measured.
The same shares, at four prices
Value of 2,976,982 Qualcomm shares, the count in Alphabet’s 13F, $ millions, at Qualcomm’s closing price on four dates: July 30 (the last price in the resale prospectus), September 30 (the 13F date), November 4, and November 5.
In Alphabet’s portfolio
The stake is 0.6% of the stock Alphabet reports. Alphabet’s 13F totals $88.3B at September 30, down from $99.1B at June 30. SpaceX is about $83.7B of it, 95%. Excluding SpaceX, Qualcomm is the fourth-largest line, about the size of Arm and Planet Labs.
For Qualcomm, it is a small holder. 2,976,982 shares are 0.28% of the 1,070M Qualcomm had outstanding on November 2. In September Qualcomm gave Amazon a warrant for up to 25M shares, 8.4 times as many, vesting as Amazon commits to and makes up to $60B of purchases. Qualcomm guides to more than $650M of data center revenue in the quarter to December, targets $5B for its fiscal 2027 and more than $15B for fiscal 2029, as W.014 set out; Modular now sits in that business.
Without SpaceX, Qualcomm is Alphabet’s fourth-largest listed holding
Alphabet 13F holdings at September 30, 2026, $ millions, excluding SpaceX (about $83.7B). Qualcomm (orange) is as filed; the others are the June 30 value plus the change reported by BLARKAD, so they are approximate. Holdings below $120M are not drawn.
What this changes on 06.ai
- No tracker change: the stake is a venture exit paid in stock, not a strategic purchase, and is too small to bear on Qualcomm’s data center figures.
- Watch Alphabet’s next 13F, for September 30 to December 31, for whether GV keeps or sells the shares; the 219,279-share difference from July is not explained in the filings.
Sources and method
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 13F | 2,976,982 Qualcomm shares, $547,883,767, at September 30 | ShiftDelete, citing the 13F |
| 13F | Qualcomm a new position; holdings and changes from June 30; total $88.35B at September 30; other managers include GV Management Company | BLARKAD, 13F 0001652044-26-000086 |
| 13F | June 30 holdings and values; no Qualcomm position | Fintel |
| 13F | Holdings share counts at September 30 | KuCoin News |
| Reports | Alphabet disclosed a $548M Qualcomm stake; Googlebook laptops use Qualcomm processors | Reuters, via Investing.com, Nov 6 |
| Reports | GV received nearly 3M shares through Qualcomm’s purchase of Modular | The Information, Nov 6 |
| Deal | Qualcomm expects to issue up to 19.2M shares to Modular’s equity holders | Qualcomm 8-K, Jun 24, 2026 |
| Deal | 17,826,566 shares issued in a private placement | Qualcomm 8-K, Jul 31, 2026 |
| Deal | Selling holders: GV 2021 2,206,989; GV 2023 989,272; USIT II Holdco 2,487,472; General Catalyst Group XI 1,700,124; others 10,442,709; last price $151.60 on July 30 | Qualcomm 424B7, Jul 31, 2026 |
| Deal | Completed July 28; about $3.1B at the closing price, mainly about 18M shares, about 4M of them to executives with a four-year service condition (about $0.7B) | Qualcomm 10-Q, quarter to Jun 28, 2026 |
| Deal | Valued at about $4B, per people familiar | Bloomberg, via Investing.com, Jun 22, 2026 |
| Qualcomm | 1,070M shares outstanding at November 2, 2026; Modular sits in the data center business | Qualcomm 10-K, fiscal 2026 |
| Qualcomm | Closing prices: $184.04 (Sep 30), $173.19 (Nov 4), $156.75 (Nov 5) | TipRanks price history |
| Qualcomm | Data center revenue guidance of $650M+ for fiscal Q1 2027; $5B target for fiscal 2027; $15B+ by fiscal 2029 on track | Qualcomm fiscal Q4 2026 earnings presentation |
| Qualcomm | Fiscal 2029 data center revenue target above $15B | Qualcomm, Investor Day, Jun 24, 2026 |
| Qualcomm | Warrant for Amazon to buy up to 25M shares at $161.26, vesting with commitments and purchases of up to $60B | Qualcomm 8-K, Sep 3, 2026 |
| Modular | $30M seed led by GV | TechCrunch, Jun 30, 2022 |
| Modular | $100M led by General Catalyst; GV returned | Modular, Aug 24, 2023 |
| Modular | $250M at $1.6B, led by US Innovative Technology fund; $380M raised in total | Modular, Sep 24, 2025 |
| GV | First check $23M at a $155M valuation; 27× on that check, about 10× on all GV invested | Crunchbase News, Jun 30, 2026 |
The 13F itself could not be opened on EDGAR from where this was written; the Qualcomm line is as two outlets quote it, and the price it implies matches Qualcomm’s September 30 close. Price: 547,883,767 ÷ 2,976,982 = $184.04. GV funds: 2,206,989 + 989,272 = 3,196,261; ÷ 17,826,566 = 17.9%; the prospectus rows sum to 17,826,566. Gap: 3,196,261 − 2,976,982 = 219,279. Share of Qualcomm: 2,976,982 ÷ 1,070M = 0.278%. Values: 2,976,982 × 151.60 = $451M; 2,976,982 × 184.04 = $548M; 2,976,982 × 173.19 = $516M; 2,976,982 × 156.75 = $467M; fall to November 5: $548M − $467M = $81M. November 5 move: 156.75 ÷ 173.19 − 1 = −9.5%. Step-up: 3100 ÷ 1600 = 1.94; 4000 ÷ 1600 = 2.50. GV first check: 23 × 27 = 621. Portfolio: 547.9 ÷ 88346.1 = 0.62%; SpaceX 83733.9 ÷ 88346.1 = 94.8%. Amazon warrant: 25M ÷ 2,976,982 = 8.40. Qualcomm’s 10-Q gives about $3.1B and about 18M shares, including about 4M issued to Modular executives subject to four years of service, worth about $0.7B; the final purchase price allocation was not reviewed.
Wire reports are written within hours of the news, on a six-hour schedule. Each lists its sources and shows the arithmetic behind its figures. Not investment advice.