Qualcomm‘s stock fell after hours Wednesday following a fourth fiscal quarter report that beat analysts’ expectations.
The San Diego-based wireless pioneer reported a loss of $493 million, or 35 cents a share, compared with a profit of $168 million, or 11 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.
The company’s official numbers included a termination fee for the failed acquisition of NXP Semiconductors. In adjusted results that excluded that payment, Qualcomm earned $1.28 billion, or 90 cents per share, on revenue of$5.83 billion in the quarter.
Securities analysts were expecting adjusted earnings of 83 cents a share on revenue of $5.53 billion.
The company’s stock rose briefly after the report was issued, then fell back, declining 3 percent from its Wednesday close in after-hours trading.
CEO Steve Mollenkopf said it was a “strong quarter” with adjusted earnings per share “above the high end of our prior expectations, on greater than expected chipset demand … and lower operating expenses.”
“We are executing well on our strategic objectives, including driving the commercialization of 5G globally in 2019 and returning significant capital to our
stockholders,” he said.
Qualcomm has faced a series of challenges over the past year, including a takeover bid by Broadcom, the failure of the NXP merger and an ongoing dispute with Apple over technology licensing.
“Despite strong profit numbers today, Qualcomm is still facing considerable risk to its growth outlook from courts and regulators,” said Investing.com Senior Analyst Haris Anwar.