Qualcomm Inc. said it anticipates a rosy fourth-quarter result, emphasizing the traction of its chipsets in the wireless market.
The company said it expects earnings per share of between 28 cents and 30 cents compared with its prior estimate of between about 27 cents and 29 cents.
The company said its fourth-quarter revenue will leap between 60 percent and 62 percent year-over-year.
For the year, Qualcomm anticipates revenue growth of between 33 percent and 34 percent year-over-year and diluted earnings per share of $1.08 and $1.09, adding it expects between 170 million and 176 million units of CDMA phones to be sold in 2004 as against a prior estimate of between 161 million and 168 million units.
“The 3G CDMA market continues to grow at a rapid pace,” said Irwin Mark Jacobs, chairman and chief executive officer of Qualcomm. “Data services and advanced features, including multi-year games, positioning, photo messaging, music and video downloads, are proving very popular where offered, increasing average revenue per subscriber and driving phone upgrades.”
In other chip supplier news, Texas Instruments, the world’s largest maker of chips used in cell phones, approved a plan to buy back up to $1 billion in stock. The company also said it is raising its quarterly dividend by nearly 18 percent for an annual dividend of 10 cents a share.
