Qualcomm shares fall on concerns about its dispute with Apple

Mobile chip giant Qualcomm delivered fairly solid quarterly numbers but it lowered its outlook thanks mainly to Apple.

A slight year-on-year fall in revenue was still better than expected, as were its earnings per share. But guidance for the next quarter was reduced by around 20% for both chip shipments and licensing revenues. Apple seems to be to blame for both, with the gadget giant switching to Intel for its modems and the ongoing dispute over licensing terms resulting in a bunch of payments being withheld.

“We delivered a strong quarter, with Non-GAAP earnings per share above the high end of our prior expectations, on greater than expected chipset demand in QCT and lower operating expenses,” said Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm. “We are executing well on our strategic objectives, including driving the commercialization of 5G globally in 2019 and returning significant capital to our stockholders.”

Despite this Qualcomm’s share price was down 7% at time of writing. Speaking to Reuters, Qualcomm’s CFO George Davis speculated that the chip shipment downgrade might have been greater than many anticipated. On top of that the dispute with Apple is showing no sign of resolution, so investors may be increasingly inclined to price in a negative outcome for Qualcomm.