Qualcomm Reports Earnings Today. What to Expect.

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Investors will get an important update on Qualcomm’s business when the maker of mobile processors and 5G wireless chipsets reports earnings after the market close Wednesday. Some analysts are optimistic that the company’s share gains in other markets will help it overcome the current weakness in smartphone demand.

Wall Street expects

Qualcomm

(ticker:

QCOM

) to report June quarter revenue of $10.86 billion with adjusted earnings per share of $2.89, up from $1.92 in the year-ago quarter. Analysts’ estimate for the September quarter’s revenue is $12 billion.

Lately, research firms have been warning investors about softening demand in the global smartphone market. Last week, Canalys said worldwide shipments for mobile phones fell 9% year over year due to difficult economic conditions.

But analysts are still bullish on the chip maker’s prospects. Earlier this month, J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee reiterated his Overweight rating on Qualcomm, citing the company’s progress in diversifying its business into non-phone markets. In June, the chip stock rallied after Taiwan-based hardware analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted 

Apple
’s
move to develop its own modem chips was hitting roadblocks and Qualcomm would remain the exclusive supplier of 5G chips for iPhones next year.

Qualcomm shares were down about 18% year to date as of midday on Tuesday. For the same period, the

iShares Semiconductor ETF

(SOXX), which tracks the performance of the ICE Semiconductor Index, has declined 29%.

Write to Tae Kim at [email protected]