Qualcomm Reports 17% Profits Rise Boosted by One-Off Gains
Qualcomm has reported that its third fiscal-quarter revenues rose by 28% compared to last year, reaching US$4.63 billion. Net profit also rose, by 17% to US$1.21 billion.
The profits were boosted by US$761 million, net of income taxes, for discontinued operations, as a result of a $1.2 billion gain associated with the sale of substantially all of our 700 MHz spectrum.
The company shipped 141 million MSM chips during the quarter – a rise of 18 percent year on year.
“Looking forward, our growth estimates for 3G/4G device shipments in calendar 2012 have moderated slightly, and we now expect the demand profile of the calendar year to be more back-end loaded as new devices are launched for the holiday season. Although our outlook for semiconductor volumes in the fiscal fourth quarter has been reduced from our prior expectations, we are ramping supply of our 28 nanometer chipsets to help enable what we expect to be a strong December quarter for our semiconductor business.” said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm.
The company ended the quarter on June 24, 2012 with $26.5 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
The company’s tax rate for the quarter was 24% due to lower overseas sales, although the expected annual tax rate will be around 20 percent.