By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Qualcomm stock (NASDAQ:QCOM) jumped more than 6% in Thursday’s premarket trading as its fourth-quarter earnings reflected robust demand for its chips from various consumer industries.
The company holds sway in the mobiles segment but demand was strong for use in automobiles as well as Internet devices like tablets. Qualcomm technologies are now found in Peloton (NASDAQ:PTON) Bike+ as well as Astro, Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) recently announced household robot, the company said in a statement.
Comments from the company’s top management indicating that the global shortage of chips isn’t that big an issue now and that it is confident of surmounting the problem also boosted the stock.
“We feel pretty comfortable that the overall supply picture is playing out exactly as we had planned…and we've put in place plans both for dual-sourcing for certain parts,” Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhivala told analysts in a call.
The company also benefited from Huawei’s exit from the American market to post sales and profit that were ahead of expectations. Makers of Android-based mobiles, out to grab the Chinese handset maker’s market share, often use Qualcomm’s chips for smartphones.
Fourth-quarter adjusted revenue rose 43% to $9.32 billion. Adjusted profit per share rose by 76% to $2.55.
The company’s chipset business posted its fifth consecutive quarter of greater than 100% year-over-year pretax growth. Revenue from automotive and IoT devices business topped $10 billion for the first time, growing 69% - a powerful indication of its pricing power with those sectors.
The company expects adjusted EPS to come in at $3 in the current quarter - the first of its new fiscal year - at the midpoint of its guidance range, on revenue of around $10.4 billion.