Qualcomm delivered fourth quarter revenue growth of 19% as it saw strength across its smartphone, auto and Internet of things units.
The company reported fourth quarter earnings of $2.92 billion, or $2.59 a share, on revenue of $10.24 billion, up 19% from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were $2.69 a share.
Wall Street analysts were expecting Qualcomm to report fourth quarter non-GAAP earnings of $2.57 a share on revenue of $9.93 billion.
For 2024, Qualcomm reported earnings of $10.14 billion, or $8.97 a share, on revenue of $38.96 billion, up 9% from fiscal 2023.
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CEO Cristiano Amon said the company's product cadence is strong and positions us well across handsets, PC, automotive and industrial IoT." The company will outline plans to diversify its business on November 19. On a conference call, Amon said:
"As the strong pace of AI innovation continues, there is now broad recognition of the opportunity for on-device AI to enable new capabilities and transform the human-computer interface. On-device AI provides context, enhances immediacy and reliability, and enables personalization while providing privacy and security. Additionally, GenAI-enabled devices and applications are evolving to understand natural language, images, sound, and the world around us, driving a new generation of AI-first experiences. This has the potential to create a new cycle of semiconductor innovation and content, and Qualcomm is well-positioned to capitalize on this opportunity across devices at the edge."
Qualcomm has moved to expand into AI PCs as well as automotive and IoT. Ultimately, Qualcomm is expected to expand in the AI server processor market as well as edge computing.
Constellation Research analyst Holger Mueller said:
"Qualcomm had a very strong Q4 with all revenue lines growing, The growth in automotive is particularly encouraging, a market that has been traditionally slower for Qualcomm, but showed 68% growth. Qualcomm almost doubled its EPS. Cristiano Amon and team remain optimistic with an realistic but optimistic growth for the next fiscal year. All eyes will be on the performance and uptake of the new Snapdragon Elite platform."
Handsets fourth quarter revenue was $6.10 billion, up 12% from a year ago. Automotive fourth quarter revenue was $899 million, up 68% from a year ago. IoT revenue in the quarter was $1.68 billion, up 22%.
Qualcomm also said it will spend $15 billion to buy back stock.
As for the outlook, Qualcomm is projecting first quarter revenue of $10.5 billion to $11.3 billion with non-GAAP earnings of $2.85 a share to $3.05 a share.
