Key takeaways
- Qualcomm beat earnings and sales estimates and issued better-than-expected forecasts on signs of a recovery in mobile phone sales.
- Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala said the company is seeing early signs of a “stabilization” in demand for mobile phones.
- The company anticipates that shipments of smartphones with Qualcomm chips will be higher than previously thought.
Qualcomm (QCOM) shares rose more than 6% in intraday trading Thursday after the chipmaker released better-than-expected results and guidance on growing mobile phone demand.
The company reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 earnings per share (EPS) of $2.02. Revenue declined 24% year over year to $8.67 billion. Both were more than forecasts.
Sales at its QTC unit, which makes circuits and other technologies for mobile devices, fell 26% to $7.4 billion. They fell 12% to $1.3 billion in their QTL division, which focuses on licensing its products.
Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala said the company is seeing “early signs of stabilization in demand for 3G, 4G and 5G mobile phones globally.” He noted that the outlook for smartphone shipments with Qualcomm chips would be for a decline in the mid- to high-single-digit percentage range, better than his previous estimate.
Qualcomm anticipates current quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $2.25, with revenue in a range of $9.1 billion to $9.9 billion. Analysts had expected earnings per share of $2.23 and revenue of $9.2 billion. The company expects QTC sales of between $7.7 billion and $8.3 billion, and QTL sales of between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion.
With Thursday’s gains, Qualcomm stock was trading in positive territory for 2023 after ending the month of October lower for the year.
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