On Wednesday, the chip giant Qualcomm announced its results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2021, ending Sept. 26, after the market closed in the United States. The results showed Qualcomm’s fourth-quarter revenue was $9.3 billion, up 43% year over year, net income was $2.9 billion, up 75% year over year, and adjusted earnings per share were $2.55, up 76% year over year. Shares of Qualcomm rose more than 6 percent in after-hours trading as the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.
The following are Qualcomm’s key fourth-quarter results:
— Revenue of $9.3 billion, up 43 percent from $6.5 billion in the year-ago quarter and above analysts’ general expectations of $8.86 billion.
–Earnings before taxes (EBT) of $3.3 billion, up 76 percent from $1.9 billion a year ago.
-Net income of $2.9 billion, up 75 percent from $1.669 billion in the same period last year
— Diluted earnings per share of $2.55, up 76 percent from $1.45 in the same period last year and above analysts’ general expectations of $2.26.
By segment
— CDMA Technology (QCT) segment revenue of $7.7 billion, up 56 percent from $5.0 billion in the same period last year. Pre-tax profit of $2.5 billion, up 143 percent from $1 billion in the prior-year period.
1) Revenue from the handset chip business was $4.7 billion, an increase of 56 percent from $3 billion in the prior-year period.
(2) RF front-end chip sales of $1.2 billion, up 45% from $850 million in the same period last year.
(3) Automotive chip revenue of $270 million, an increase of 44% compared to $188 million in the same period last year.
(4) IoT chips revenue was $1.54 billion, an increase of 66% from $930 million in the same period last year.
— Technology Licensing (QTL) segment revenue was $1.56 billion, up 3% from $1.5 billion in the year-ago period.
Qualcomm’s key results for fiscal 2021 are as follows.
— Revenue of $33.5 billion, up 55 percent from $21.7 billion in the prior year.
-Net income of $9.8 billion, up 104 percent from $4.8 billion in the prior year.
— CDMA technology segment (QCT) revenue of $27.0 billion, an increase of 64 percent from $16.5 billion in the prior-year period.
–Quality Technology Licensing (QTL) revenue of $6.3 billion, an increase of 26 percent compared to $5.0 billion in the same period last year.
Shareholder returns
–For the fourth fiscal quarter, Qualcomm distributed a total of $1.5 billion to its shareholders, including cash dividends of $768 million at $0.68 per share and the repurchase of 5 million shares of common stock at a cost of $771 million.
–For the full fiscal year 2021, Qualcomm distributed $6.4 billion to its shareholders, including cash dividends of $2.66 per share at $3.0 billion and a total of $3.4 billion for the repurchase of 24 million shares of common stock.
Earnings guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2022.
— Revenue is expected to be between $10.0 billion and $10.8 billion, above analysts’ estimates of $9.68 billion. Of that, revenue is expected to be between $8.4 billion and $8.9 billion for the CDMA technology segment (QCT) and between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion for the technology licensing segment (QTL).
— Diluted earnings per share are expected to be between $2.90 and $3.10.
Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm’s chief executive officer, and the president said, “In fiscal 2021, we exceeded our 2019 Analyst Day targets for revenue growth, diversification, and operating margin growth, and more than doubled our earnings per share year-over-year.