Qualcomm today released its third fiscal year report for fiscal year 2016 as of June 26. According to the report, Qualcomm’s revenue in the third quarter was US$6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4%; net profit was US$1.4 billion, an increase of 22% from US$1.2 billion in the same period of last year. Both performances exceeded Wall Street’s analyst expectations and promoted its After the stock rose sharply more than 6%.
It is reported that Qualcomm’s revenue from equipment and services in the third quarter was US$3.875 billion, slightly higher than the US$3.84 billion in the same period of last year; and revenue from licensing also accounted for a large share of US$2.169 billion. In addition, Qualcomm’s total operating costs and expenses for the third quarter were US$4.452 billion, and R&D expenditure was US$1.268 billion, compared to US$1.407 billion for the same period last year. Sales, general affairs and administrative expenses were US$620 million, compared to US$621 million in the same period last year. Lastly, other income was 30 million US dollars, a big gap from the 118 million US dollars in the same period last year.
However, I believe we are all concerned about Qualcomm's chip revenue. In the third quarter, Qualcomm's chip shipments were 201 million units, down 11% from 225 million units in the same period last year, and 189 million in the previous quarter, up 6% from the previous quarter. Previously, Qualcomm’s forecast for the third quarter was that chip shipments will drop by 13% to 22% year-on-year to 175 million to 195 million yuan. Today is beyond expectations.
In addition, Qualcomm expects shipments of 3G/4G equipment to be in the range of 321 to 325 million units, an increase of 11% from the 289 to 293 million units expected in the same period of last year, and a 4% decline from the previous quarter. The ASP of 3G/4G chips averaged 191 to 197 US dollars per unit, down 7% year-on-year and 7% lower than the previous quarter.
Since last year, chip makers have been facing very difficult moments and have sought to transform themselves. From the past two quarters, Qualcomm’s revenue seems to have recovered. After passing the 4 consecutive quarters of last year’s decline in shipments, Qualcomm began to end the trend from the previous quarter, and shipments declined, but profits increased; in the third quarter just past, the profit of Qualcomm’s chips appeared. Slight rebound, but shipments continued to decline year-on-year.
For the next quarter's performance forecast, Qualcomm projected revenue of 5.4 billion to 6.2 billion US dollars, down 1% year-on-year to 14%. Visible, the chip giant's grasp of the future is also very uncertain.