QCOM Up 5%: FYQ3 Misses, Q4 View Light

Wireless chip maker Qualcomm (QCOM) this afternoon reported fiscal Q3 revenue and earnings per share a little light of consensus, and a Q4 view below analysts’ estimates.

Revenue in the three months ended in June rose 28%, year over year, and fell 6%, quarter to quarter, to $4.63 billion, yielding EPS of 85 cents, excluding some costs.

Analysts on average were expecting $4.67 billion and 86 cents.

Qualcomm’s shipments of “MSM” chipsets in the quarter rose 18%, year over year, to $141 million units. That was a 7% increase from Q2′s level.

For the current quarter, the company sees revenue of $4.45 billion to $4.85 billion, and EPS of 78 cents to 84 cents.

That is below the average estimate of $4.91 billion and 89 cents.

CEO Paul Jacobs remarked,

Our growth estimates for 3G/4G device shipments in calendar 2012 have moderated slightly, and we now expect the demand profile of the calendar year to be more back-end loaded as new devices are launched for the holiday season.� Although our outlook for semiconductor volumes in the fiscal fourth quarter has been reduced from our prior expectations, we are ramping supply of our 28 nanometer chipsets to help enable what we expect to be a strong December quarter for our semiconductor business.

Specifically, the company is now expecting 3G and 4G device shipments in calendar 2012 of 875 million to 935 million, down from a prior estimated range of 885 million to 945 million.

Qualcomm shares are down 90 cents, or 1.7%, at $55.15.

Update: During a phone call following the report, Qualcomm’s head of investor relations,�Bill Davidson, clarified that the company’s plan for shipments of 134 million to 142 million this quarter is lower than previously expected.

That is mostly attributable to the previously disclosed issue of limitations in getting chips made at 28 nanometer feature sizes.

Asked about demand, Davidson said there had been “no major structural change” in the adoption of smartphones worldwide, just the ability to get chips to the products in time, he said.

Average selling prices were improving on the licensing side as there was a greater mix of smartphones in licenses versus lower-priced data “dongles” for laptop attachment.

Of course, Davidson offered no specific comments about customers, be they Apple (AAPL), Samsung Electronics (005930KS),�Nokia (NOK) or others. But the different in calendar year outlook of 10 million devices is not a very big adjustment, executives pointed out.

Davidson said the company expects “significant” improvement in calendar Q4 for its supply of chips. However, he added that there can tend to be some “double ordering” of chips when supply becomes tight. As a result, it’s not entirely clear where supply may stand relative to demand by that time because it’s not entirely clear yet what will be real demand and what will be a buffer customers create for themselves.

Update 2: Shares of Qualcomm have reversed earlier losses and are up $2.95, or 5%, at $59. Shares of competitors and some other wireless chip makers are all higher this evening. Broadcom (BRCM) shares are up $95, or 3%, at $31.60. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) are up 3 cents at $13.09; shares of Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), which reported better-than-expected fiscal Q3 results this evening, are up $2.56, or almost 10%, at $29.20; and shares of RF Micro Devices (RFMD) are up 7 cents, or 1.7%, at $4.25.