Qualcomm said it expects to receive USD 4.5-4.7 billion in back revenues and payments from Apple as part of the recently announced settlement of their legal disputes from the past two years. The money will be booked in Qualcomm's fiscal third quarter to June, along with the first current royalties from Apple and its contract manufacturers. The announcement was made alongside better-than-expected Q2 results from Qualcomm, which also included a weak underlying outlook for the current quarter.
Qualcomm reported quarterly revenues down 5 percent year-on-year and up 3 percent on a sequential basis to USD 5.0 billion. MSM chip shipments fell 17 percent across both periods to 155 million. Operating profit rose 135 percent to USD 0.9 billion, and net profit more than doubled year-on-year to USD 0.7 billion or USD 0.55 per share. The annual difference was due to lower restructuring charges and a minimum USD 150 million royalty payment from Huawei, with which Qualcomm is still negotiating a new licensing deal.
For the next quarter, Qualcomm forecast a sharp increase in its results thanks to the Apple settlement. Revenues are expected up 65-83 percent to USD 9.2-10.2 billion, despite an estimated 15-25 percent fall in MSM chip shipments. EPS is forecast to increase around five-fold, to USD 3.57-3.77. Over USD 3.00 per share comes from the Apple agreement; on an adjusted basis, earnings would still be down 20-30 percent.
