Earnings per share hit $3.00 on an adjusted basis, a tidy leap beyond the $2.88 expected by bean counters polled by LSEG. Revenue climbed 10 per cent year-on-year to $11.27 billion, comfortably topping the forecasted $10.79 billion. This time last year, the firm was sitting on net income of $2.92 billion, or $2.59 per share, before the taxman came knocking.
Looking ahead, Qualcomm reckons it’ll bank between $11.8 billion and $12.6 billion for its fiscal first quarter, landing squarely at $12.2 billion in the middle of that range. That is a smidge more than the $11.62 billion analysts were hoping for. Adjusted earnings per share are tipped to land between $3.30 and $3.50, again, more generous than the $3.31 prediction.
While still a major player in mobile chips, powering Samsung’s high-end kit and flogging modems to the Fruity Cargo Cult Apple, Qualcomm knows that relationship with Job’s Mob won’t last. It’s been diversifying into Windows PCs, VR gear, and Meta’s smart glasses to fill the modem gap when it arrives.
Qualcomm’s biggest bet though is on artificial intelligence, where Nvidia has already built a high-speed motorway and AMD is still fumbling with its satnav.
Last week, Qualcomm dropped the news that it’s got two AI accelerator chips in the works, the AI200, due in 2026, and AI250 a year later. These will slot into full-size, liquid-cooled server racks. That revelation alone sent the stock jumping 11 per cent.
Just like Nvidia and AMD’s racks stuffed with up to 72 GPUs acting like one massive brain, Qualcomm is hoping its boxes will be snapped up by AI labs desperate for horsepower to run increasingly bloated models.
Shares in Qualcomm are up 17 per cent this year, still lagging the Nasdaq’s 22 per cent climb. Nvidia is up 45 per cent and AMD has gone full rocket ship, climbing 112 per cent.
Qualcomm’s handset division raked in $6.96 billion, a 14 per cent jump. Its automotive business rolled in 17 per cent higher at $1.05 billion. Meta’s smart kit helped push the firm’s Internet of Things division to $1.81 billion, up seven per cent. All of these figures came in above expectations.
Only the licensing arm dipped, falling seven per cent year-on-year to $1.41 billion. Even that was better than Wall Street's predictions.
