Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) reported fourth-quarter results that topped forecasts. The chipmaker also said it appointed Akash Palkhiwala as chief financial officer on a permanent basis.
The firm reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.78 on revenue of $4.81 billion. Analysts polled by expected EPS of $0.71 on revenue of $4.75 billion. That compared to EPS of $0.9 on revenue of $5.83 billion in the same period a year earlier. The company had reported EPS of $0.8 on revenue of $4.89 billion in the previous quarter.
The earnings beat arrived on the back of better-than-expected performance in both its chipmaking and patent licensing businesses.
Revenue in its QCT semiconductor business fell 22% to $3.6 billion, but that was a notch above expectations of $3.57 billion. Its higher-margin patent licensing (QTL) business, which generates royalties from every smartphone sold worldwide, rose 4% to $1.2 billion, above expectations of $1.1 billion.
Looking ahead to the fiscal first quarter, the company guided earnings in a range of $0.80 to $0.90 a share versus $0.84 from S&P Capital IQ consensus, with revenues expected in the range of $4.4 to $5.2 billion versus $4.95 billion expected.
Qualcomm shares gained 6.17% to trade at $89.89 in after-hours trade following the report.
