Qualcomm tops Q4 estimates, but Q1 earnings outlook falls short, sending stock lower

Qualcomm (QCOM) reported fourth quarter earnings after the bell Wednesday, topping expectations on the top and bottom lines and providing a better-than-anticipated Q1 revenue outlook.

But a lower-than-expected midpoint for its earnings per share (EPS) forecast sent the stock tumbling more than 11% in premarket action.

For Q4, Qualcomm reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.17 on revenue of $10.32 billion. Analysts were projecting EPS of $2.16 and revenue of $10.12 billion.

The company saw EPS of $3 and revenue of $11.27 billion in the same quarter last year.

Qualcomm also offered Q1 revenue guidance of $10.4 billion to $11.2 billion, with the midpoint ahead of Wall Street’s $10.6 billion outlook.

EPS, however, is set to come in between $2.15 and $2.35, with a midpoint of $2.25. Analysts were looking for $2.32

Qualcomm’s QCT segment, which includes handset and automotive sales, declined 8% year over year but topped Wall Street’s Q4 revenue expectations at $9 billion. Analysts were calling for $8.8 billion.

The bulk of that drop came from Qualcomm’s handset business, which saw revenue plunge 26% year over year to $5.1 billion. Analysts were looking for $5.3 billion.

Qualcomm stock fell 10% before the bell on Thursday.

But the company’s automotive segment helped offset some of that impact, with sales increasing 89% to $2 billion.

Qualcomm’s QTL business line saw revenue of $1.3 billion for the quarter.

The chip giant is in the midst of a wide-ranging effort to bolster its data center, automotive, edge computing, and PC businesses as it works to reduce its dependence on smartphone chip sales.

On Wednesday, Qualcomm announced a deal to provide technology to SpaceX’s (SPCX) Starlink as the satellite networking giant ramps up its effort to establish a terrestrial network that would rival AT&T (T), T-Mobile (TMUS), and Verizon (VZ).

In late October, Qualcomm said it is working with Anduril on a product line called BlueChip, focused on reshoring computer manufacturing. The companies said they’ll start by focusing on a laptop that will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series chips.

And in September, the company signed an agreement with Amazon (AMZN) for custom chips designed for its AWS AI infrastructure.

But Qualcomm, like the rest of the consumer electronics industry, is also contending with the impact of the memory and storage shortage, which has forced companies to raise prices on everything from smartphones to laptops, sending demand plummeting.

During its fourth quarter earnings announcement on Monday, Apple noted that the memory crisis will continue to cut into margins going forward. Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD) also said they expect PC sales to decline in the coming quarter, sending Intel stock plunging nearly 29%.

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