Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares moved skyward Thursday, a day after the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations. Earnings showed Qualcomm has weathered the global chip shortage well.
Analysts expected adjusted earnings per share of $2.26 and revenue of $8.86 billion. Qualcomm reported $2.55 earnings per share, adjusted, and revenue of $9.3 billion. Its chip business generated $7.7 billion in revenue, up 56% year over year, on demand for new phones.
"Supply worked exactly as we planned," CEO Cristiano Amon told the media Thursday. "Scale helps, we addressed the issue early … we put capacity plans in place and it’s working exactly as we planned."
Amon said the company is prioritizing supply where it gets the most return, adding that the "handset business is on fire" because of demand for devices that run on new and faster 5G networks.
"The reality is if we look at where we are today, we had a great Q4 quarter but we’re still short," Amon went on. "We’re going to see supply substantially improving at the end of the calendar year as well as when we get into 2022 but there’s more demand than supply."
Analysts at Piper Sandler said Wednesday that Qualcomm is its top large-cap stock pick given its strength within the Android market. Piper Sandler raised its price target from $175 to $190.
QCOM shares skyrocketed $15.55, or 11.2%, to $154.03.
