Bloomberg Tech Podcast Summary

Episode: Qualcomm Earnings, Musk $1 Trillion Pay Vote
Date: November 6, 2025
Hosts: Caroline Hyde (New York), Ed Ludlow (San Francisco)
Theme:
A comprehensive look at major technology earnings results — notably Qualcomm, ARM, Figma, Robinhood, Chime, and Lyft — and deep analysis of Tesla’s controversial $1 trillion pay package vote for Elon Musk. The episode explores broader market reactions, the AI-driven labor shift, and innovation trends shaping the future of tech and business.

Key Highlights & Segments

1. Market Overview & Macro Tension

Timestamps: [01:36] – [02:46]

• The day’s markets were dominated by nervousness in tech; the NASDAQ 100 was down 1.7%.
• Surprising jobs data: October saw the worst job cuts in 20 years, with 153,000 layoffs, heavily attributed to AI automation (Challenger Gray & Christmas data).
• Risk aversion was evident: Bitcoin down 1.7%, tech sector valuations under scrutiny.
• General concern about whether the AI boom can justify sky-high capital spending.

2. Chip Sector Deep Dive: Qualifying the AI Race

Timestamps: [02:46] – [08:30]

ARM Holdings

• ARM provided a bullish outlook, evidence that it's rapidly advancing in AI data center technology.
• Kunjan Sobhani (Bloomberg Intelligence) explained that ARM’s data center royalty revenue could double to 18-20% of total royalties by fiscal 2026.

  “A 2x increase in one year…significant share gains…sets them up for strong royalty growth in the future from the data center segment.” – Kunjan Sobhani [05:42]

• Major cloud players (Amazon with Graviton, Google with Saxon) are basing chips on ARM IP.
• ARM is benefiting substantially from SoftBank relationships, with Japanese revenue now 15-20% of total.

Qualcomm Earnings

• Qualcomm delivered an upbeat forecast with strong sales and profits, exceeding Wall Street expectations but missing at the high end, causing shares to fall [08:30].
• Concerns: The loss of share at Samsung offset by higher-than-expected Apple share.
• Focus on diversifying away from handsets (especially Apple) into data center, auto, mixed reality, and AI accelerators.

3. Interview with Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm CEO

Timestamps: [09:09] – [17:28]

• Strategy & Diversification:

  “We had expanded beyond handsets into a number of different markets…the company is very different…very few companies like Qualcomm that can go from 5W for earbuds all the way to now 500 watts chips for a data center.” – Cristiano Amon [09:09]

• Smartphone Trends:

  “The premium tier is expanding. That makes a much richer market for us…Android continues to grow with Snapdragon 8.” – Amon [10:04]

• Automotive & AI Devices:
  • The fastest growth outside phones is in automotive (“cars becoming really computers on wheels”), with the Snapdragon digital chassis.
  • New AI-driven personal devices (e.g., smart glasses) are a big revenue growth target; projected $2B by fiscal 2029, currently ahead of plan [11:52].
• AI/Data Center Strategy:

  “Inference is likely when you put AI into production at scale … We’re coming from our DNA of building very power-efficient devices, so we’re developing an architecture that is optimized to the highest compute density with efficient power.” – Amon [14:00]

• On AI Growth/Spending Predictions:

  “On the long run, AI is probably underestimated. It’s going to be bigger…the question is always going to be about timing.” – Amon [16:23]

4. Earnings Quick Hits: Figma, Robinhood, Chime, Lyft

Timestamps: [17:28] – [51:23]

Figma

• Strong revenue and profits above forecast, spurred by adoption of new AI-centric features and acquisition of Weave.

  “For us it’s a bet that the starting prompt is just the starting prompt, it’s not the end...you can shape these outputs almost like a medium, like clay…” – Dylan Field, CEO [18:00]

• Stock-based compensation impacted net loss—expected to normalize as public company.

Robinhood

• Earnings miss due to underwhelming crypto revenue and higher costs.
• Expanding into prediction markets to drive 24/7 customer engagement.

  “Robinhood is becoming increasingly a 24/7 platform where you can trade and invest in global markets at all times of the day.” – Vlad Tenev, CEO [21:07]

Chime

• Posted robust results: revenue up 29% YoY, new active members up 21%.
• Announced $200M share buyback, indicating belief shares are undervalued post-IPO.
• New features and a move to an internal tech stack ("Chime Core") will fuel forthcoming innovation.

  “We just announced 29% revenue growth year over year, 21% growth in our member base…We feel like we’re executing really, really well.” – Chris Britt, CEO [39:39]

Lyft

• Shares jumped 7% on the back of an optimistic outlook and record free cash flow.
• Active riders up 18%, driven by both acquisition and organic growth.
• Investments in loyalty programs, acquisition integration, and potential share buyback underway.

  “The acceleration and the foundation of our performance is multifaceted…all-time highs in active riders and gross bookings.” – Aaron Brewer, CFO [46:51]

• Discussed strategy to balance investment with discipline, and future of asset ownership for robotaxi fleet partnerships.

  “We still see ourselves long term as an asset-light company, but as the industry develops, we're going to make some of those investments.” – Brewer [49:06]

5. Main Event: Tesla’s $1 Trillion Musk Pay Vote

Timestamps: [29:11] – [37:46]

Cathie Wood (ARK Invest, Tesla Shareholder) ‘Yes’ Vote

• Argues the incentives are aligned—Musk and team must deliver massive growth for pay to materialize.

  “I do not believe any company anywhere near this size has ever delivered a compound annual rate of growth for EBITDA…of 41% over 10 years.” – Cathie Wood [29:11]

• If Musk left, impact would be particularly severe for ambitious projects like Robotaxis and humanoid robots.

  “What we now think though is in order to capitalize on humanoid robots…Elon’s brilliance and the team he’s attracted are going to be necessary to pull that off.” – Wood [30:31]

Drew Hambly (CalPERS, Voted ‘No’)

• Cites excessive concentration of voting power in Musk, pay package being 73x median for CEO peers.

  “We just thought that multiple gap was too high.” [31:30]

• Questions over key person risk and whether Tesla’s trajectory is really so singular to Musk.

  “Do we want so much risk in one person?...There’s tens of thousands of people working at Tesla creating value.” – Hambly [34:12]

• Long-term stewardship approach: CalPERS would hold even if Musk left, but sees diversification of leadership as preferable.

  “We plan to hold this company for a long time…If he left tomorrow, would that be a short-term hit? Possibly. But…over the long term…we’re going to benefit.” – Hambly [35:09]

Debate Takeaways:

• Strong arguments on both sides about incentives, innovation, risk, and the unprecedented scale of the pay package.
• The package passed, but not without deep governance and concentration of power concerns.

6. Broader Tech Trends

Timestamps: [24:55] – [25:33], [37:46] – [38:54]

• Apple to pay Google ~$1B/year for a high-parameter AI model to enhance Siri, marking a shift even among the largest tech players to “rent” AI where necessary.
• AI-related job cuts continue to rewrite the US employment landscape, with October the worst on record for 20 years. (Challenger Gray & Christmas).

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Cristiano Amon (Qualcomm CEO):

  • “We’re executing very well…could not be more excited…expanded beyond handsets into a number of different markets.” [09:09]
  • “The premium tier is expanding…Android continues to grow…” [10:04]
  • “On the long run, AI is probably underestimated…it’s going to be bigger.” [16:23]

• Kunjan Sobhani (Bloomberg Intelligence):

  • “A 2x increase in [ARM’s data center royalties] in one year…significant share gains…” [05:42]

• Cathie Wood (ARK Invest):

  • “If Elon left, we think about it in two ways…AI project is well underway, but…for humanoid robots…Elon’s brilliance…“ [30:01], [30:31]

• Drew Hambly (CalPERS):

  • “We just thought that multiple gap was too high.” [31:30]
  • “Do we want so much risk in one person?” [34:12]

• Chris Britt (Chime CEO):

  • “We feel like we’re executing really, really well.” [39:39]
  • “We see a very healthy consumer…not seeing the pressure that I think some companies may be experiencing out there.” [40:55]

• Aaron Brewer (Lyft CFO):

  • “The acceleration and the foundation of our performance is multifaceted…” [46:51]
  • “We still see ourselves long term as an asset-light company, but…make some of those investments.” [49:06]

Conclusion

This high-velocity earnings-packed episode spotlights major pivots and anxieties in the tech sector: chipmakers riding the AI data center wave (with operational headaches barely dimming optimism), fintechs leveraging tech to acquire and retain customers, and the role of market psychology in evaluating leadership and compensation at unprecedented scale (Tesla/Musk). The backdrop is a tech sector in transition—grappling with the effects of generative AI both on products and employment—while investors reassess which narratives have real staying power.