Qualcomm Rises on 5G Lift

   By Maria Armental 
 

Qualcomm Inc. benefitted from high demand for 5G smart phones, which boosted quarterly sales by 52%, as the mobile-phone chip company moved to assure its access to semiconductors in the face of global supply chain disruptions.

Shares rose 5% to $144.03 in after-hours trading.

Cristiano Amon, the company's president who is slated to take over as chief executive following Steve Mollenkopf's planned retirement, said that while demand continues to outstrip supply across businesses, company officials expect material improvement in supply by the end of 2021.

Qualcomm, Mr. Amon said, has also picked up business from China's Huawei Technologies Co., which is subject to U.S. trade restrictions.

The mobile-phone chip maker reported nearly $8 billion in sales in the March quarter, while profit for the quarter surged to $1.76 billion, ahead of analysts' projections.

Revenue in the licensing business, a key profit driver, rose 51% in the quarter, while sales in the chip business rose 53%.

This quarter, Qualcomm projects $7.1 billion to $7.9 billion in sales, compared with analysts' projected $7.12 billion, according to FactSet.

Patrick Moorhead, president of technology-industry analysis firm Moor Insights & Strategy, called Qualcomm's results a "monster quarter."

"It's not just digital modems, its smartphone analog RF (+39%), automotive (+40%) and an eye-watering 71% growth in its IoT business," he wrote Wednesday.

Qualcomm reported more than $4 billion in sales of chips for handsets and again surpassed $1 billion in quarterly sales of chips that go into internet-of-things devices.

Through Wednesday's $136.57 closing, Qualcomm's stock is up more than 80% over the past 12 months.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2021 18:38 ET (22:38 GMT)

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