Qualcomm Earnings Jump on Strong Mobile Phone Chip Demand
Wireless technology and chip developer Qualcomm posted a higher quarterly profit as revenue rose on strong demand for its mobile phone chips.
Shares of the company rose more than 2% in after-market trading.
Excluding its investment arm and other items, Qualcomm said its profit for the fiscal second quarter ended April 1 rose 22% to 50 cents a share and revenue rose 21% to $2.22 billion, both from the year-ago quarter.
On that basis, it had forecast earnings per share of 48 cents to 49 cents on revenue of $2.1 billion to $2.2 billion, citing strong demand in North America and Europe.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the wireless circuit maker to report a profit of 48 cents a share. In the same period last year, Qualcomm earned 41 cents a share.
Sales for the most recent period slightly outpaced consensus forecasts of $2.19 billion.
Qualcomm is the dominant provider of chips for CDMA, the most widely used mobile phone technology in the United States, and sells licenses and chips for W-CDMA, a technology for phones with high-speed wireless Internet connections.
While the company is seen as a key beneficiary of rising demand for advanced cell phones, its shares have fallen 15% from their May 2006 year high on investor uncertainty about its legal battles.
A key concern is Qualcomm's involvement in a potentially costly stand-off with Nokia
