Qualcomm earnings come out ahead

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Qualcomm posted fourth-quarter earnings slightly ahead of expectations, but has also decided to shelve, for now, any plans to take its chip business public.

The developer of mobile-phone technology reported revenues of $684 million in the first quarter, compared with $635 million from the fourth quarter. The figure is down 10 percent from the same period in the previous year.

Earnings per share was 29 cents, ahead of the 25 cents per share in the fourth quarter. A consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call expected earnings to be 28 cents per share.

Qualcomm said it is on track for annual earnings per share of $1.27, down about 2 cents from its own projections.

Most analysts participating in an earnings call led by Qualcomm Chairman Irwin M. Jacobs were upbeat about the company's quarter.

Jacobs said the company's technology licensing and semiconductor business enjoyed brisk growth, contributing to the earnings win.

Jacobs said Qualcomm added another 10 companies to its stable of phone makers that are licensed to use Qualcomm's CDMA chips. There are now more than 95 companies using Qualcomm's CDMA technology.

The company also reported it had shipped 15 million of its modem-enabled integrated circuits, an increase of 4 million from the fourth quarter. Qualcomm had expected to ship 14 million modem-enabled integrated circuits in the first quarter.

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