Qualcomm reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations on Wednesday. Shares of the semiconductor company gained close to 2 percent after the announcement.
Here's how the company did compared with what Wall Street expected:
- Earnings: 80 cents per share vs. 70 cents per share forecast by Thomson Reuters
- Revenue: $5.23 billion vs. $5.19 billion expected in the Thomson Reuters survey.
Qualcomm also reported strong third quarter earnings and revenue guidance that pleased Wall Street. The semiconductor company projected EPS of 83 cents on revenue of $5.4 billion, versus the 75 cents on $5.3 billion in revenue expected.
Compared to the year-ago quarter, Qualcomm revenue fell 13 percent from $6 billion due to expenses, including an ongoing dispute with Apple.
The company noted that it didn't record any license revenues from Apple in the last three quarters, which contributed to a 40 percent drop in operating income year-over-year. In the year-ago quarter, Qualcomm generated $970 million in royalty fees from Apple-related products.
Despite those losses, Qualcomm grew its wireless chip business in the second quarter, increasing revenue by 6 percent to $3.9 billion. The chipmaker failed to sell as many chips for 3G and 4G devices as anticipated, and adjusted full year device shipment estimates down from the first quarter.
Merger and acquisition activities may have dominated Qualcomm's narrative in the past few months, but investors and analysts consider smartphone chip sales to be among the most important metrics of strength for semiconductor companies, particularly as the global technology industry races toward 5G.
Qualcomm has been under pressure in wake of growing Chinese-U.S. trade tensions, and a high profile fight to resist takeover efforts from rival Broadcom.
Qualcomm also took steps to refile a takeover bid for Dutch semiconductor company NXP Semiconductors. The U.S. chipmaker has already received approval from eight of nine required global regulators to finalize the acquisition, with Chinese clearance the only one pending. While Qualcomm is said to be "very concerned" about the fate of the deal, Chinese regulators still harbor concerns the merger might have a negative impact on market competition.
A previous version of this story misstated Qualcomm's earnings per share.