QUALCOMM Increases Financial Guidance for the Second Fiscal Quarter of 2006
Tuesday March 7, 9:00 am ET
SAN DIEGO, March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM - News) today updated its financial guidance for the second fiscal quarter ending March 26, 2006.
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The following statements are forward looking and actual results may differ materially. Please see "Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" at the end of this news release for a description of certain risk factors and QUALCOMM's annual and quarterly reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a more complete description of risks.
Pro Forma Defined
Pro forma results and guidance exclude the QUALCOMM Strategic Initiatives (QSI) segment, estimated share-based compensation expense, tax benefits related to prior years and acquired in-process research and development (R&D) expense.
Second Fiscal Quarter Business Outlook
Based on the current business outlook, we now anticipate second fiscal quarter revenues for QUALCOMM pro forma to be approximately $1.75 to $1.82 billion. We now anticipate second fiscal quarter QUALCOMM pro forma diluted earnings per share to be approximately $0.40 to $0.41, compared to $0.29 in the year ago quarter. This estimate is based on the shipment of approximately 47-48 million Mobile Station Modem (MSM) chips during the quarter compared to approximately 37 million in the year ago quarter and approximately 47 million in the prior quarter. We previously anticipated second fiscal quarter QUALCOMM pro forma revenues of $1.63 to $1.73 billion, QUALCOMM pro forma diluted earnings per share of approximately $0.35 to $0.37 and estimated shipments of approximately 44 to 46 million MSM chips.
The majority of our licensees have reported royalties in the second fiscal quarter for products shipped in the December quarter. Based on these reports and an estimate of the few licensees yet to report, we anticipate December quarter shipments of approximately 67 million CDMA units (CDMA2000(TM) and WCDMA) at an average selling price of approximately $209 compared to our prior estimate of approximately 59-61 million units at an average selling price of approximately $209. Calendar year 2005 total CDMA handset shipments are estimated to have been approximately 209 million units, including approximately 49 million WCDMA units and approximately 160 million CDMA2000 units, compared to our prior estimate of 203 million units, including approximately 45 million WCDMA units and approximately 158 million CDMA2000 units.
"Reports from our licensees for handset shipments in the December quarter indicate stronger than expected WCDMA volumes in Europe and stronger than expected CDMA2000 volumes primarily in North America and India," said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, CEO of QUALCOMM. "In our chipset business we are seeing greater than expected demand for shipments of our low-end voice-centric and high-end 1xEV-DO products in the March quarter. Based on our estimates of CDMA channel inventory and demand for our chipsets in the coming June quarter, we continue to believe CDMA channel inventories are within the normal historical band. In addition, we continue to work closely with our partners to achieve competitive price points for handsets that will bring the benefits of CDMA technology to more of the world's current and next billion wireless subscribers."
The following table summarizes total QUALCOMM (GAAP) and QUALCOMM pro forma results for the second fiscal quarter of 2005 and guidance for the second fiscal quarter of 2006 based on the current business outlook. Total QUALCOMM (GAAP) guidance for the second fiscal quarter of 2006 includes approximately $0.05 diluted loss per share related to estimated share-based compensation. Estimated share-based compensation in future periods may vary materially from the business outlook as the methodology used to calculate this estimate is dependent on a variety of assumptions which are subject to market fluctuations and other factors.
Due to their nature, certain income and expense items such as realized investment gains or losses in QSI, gains and losses on certain derivative instruments or asset impairments, cannot be accurately forecast. Accordingly, the Company excludes forecasts of such items from its business outlook, and actual results may vary materially from the business outlook if the Company incurs any such income or expense items. |
