Qualcomm reported revenues for its fiscal first quarter to December up 62 percent year-on-year to USD 8.2 billion, led by demand for 5G handsets and its expansion into new markets such as RF, automotive and IoT chips. The company's net profit more than doubled, to USD 2.5 billion or USD 2.12 per share from USD 925 million or USD 0.80 per share a year earlier. Revenues were at the mid-point of the company's guidance and EPS was better than expected.
The chip production division QCT posted revenues up 81 percent to USD 6.5 billion, while the licensing division QTL grew by 18 percent to USD 1.7 billion. Qualcomm showed the strongest growth in the RF front-end business, where revenues rose 141 percent year-on-year to USD 1.1 billion. In the main smartphone operations, revenue increased 79 percent to USD 4.2 billion.
For fiscal Q2, Qualcomm forecast a seasonal slowdown to revenues of USD 7.2-8.0 billion. That includes USD 6.0-6.5 billion at QCT and USD 1.25-1.45 billion from QTL. EPS is estimated at USD 1.17-1.37.
Qualcomm bought back 3 million of its own shares for USD 444 million during the past quarter and paid USD 739 million in dividends.
