Thursday, August 9, 2012

Qualcomm Earnings release

Qualcomm released earnings results on July 19th, posting EPS of 86 cents, which was in-line with expectations. They also posted a 28% increase year over year in revenues at $4.63 billion. Company guidance for the fourth quarter EPS of 78-84 cents came in slightly below the consensus expectations of 89 cents, due to lower projections in smartphone sales. CEO Dr. Paul Jacobs states that their estimates in 3G/4G device shipments have changed as they expect demand “to be more back-end loaded as devices are launched for the holiday season.” They saw margins drop slightly over the quarter, gross margins coming in at 64.4% compared with 64.7% last year, and operating margins at 30.0% compared with 31.0% last year. Sales of their 3G and 3G/4G chipsets have been driving their revenue growth as countries all over the world continue to adopt mobile platforms. They shipped 141 million MSM chip units, up 18% from last year. The approximate selling price of each 3G/4G unit rose from $226 to $232. With the gradual adaptation of 4G LTE handsets in developed markets such as the U.S. and Japan, as well as the overwhelming demand of smartphones in emerging markets Qualcomm is in position to benefit from these macro trends. One factor that shouldn’t be overlooked is the decline in smartphone pricing, which could negatively affect Qualcomm’s margins.


-Ryan Ranado

No comments: