Qualcomm's profit jumps 20 pct. in fiscal 4Q

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Qualcomm Inc.'s net income surged 20 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter, as the company's mobile phone shipments increased, driving revenue higher.

The results exceeded Wall Street's expectations, and Qualcomm's shares jumped more than 8 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday.

As more consumers move to faster smartphones and buy more tablet computers, demand has grown for Qualcomm products.

Management said the company is in position to generate double-digit revenue growth in fiscal 2013.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, the San Diego company reported net income of $1.27 billion, or 73 cents per share, compared with net income of $1.06 billion, or 62 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding the impact of stock-based compensation and other special items, Qualcomm earned 89 cents per share in the latest quarter.

Analysts forecast, on average, earnings of 82 cents per share, according to FactSet. Analysts typically strip out one-time items from their estimates.

Revenue for the latest quarter jumped 18 percent to $4.87 billion from a year earlier. Wall Street expected $4.67 billion.

Qualcomm said it shipped 141 million chips, an increase of 11 percent from a year ago.

For fiscal 2012 the company's net income rose 43 percent to $6.11 billion, or $3.51 per share, compared with net income of $4.26 billion, or $2.52 per share, the year before. Revenue leaped by 28 percent to $19.1 billion.

Qualcomm anticipates that adjusted fiscal first-quarter earnings per share will range from 90 to 98 cents, and it expects revenue of $5.6 billion to $6.1 billion. Analysts forecast adjusted earnings of $1 per share and revenue of $5.37 billion.

For all of fiscal 2013, Qualcomm projects adjusted earnings of $3.40 to $3.60 per share. It predicts revenue will be between $23 billion and $24 billion. Analysts anticipate adjusted earnings of $4.14 on revenue of $21.86 billion for fiscal 2012.

Qualcomm shares ended regular trading down $2.25, or 3.7 percent, at $58.12 amid a broader market sell-off. The stock gained $4.88, or 8.4 percent, to $63 in after-hours trading.