Qualcomm may have posted a marked increase in profit, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy Wall Street. The company’s shares fell over 13 percent in morning trading after the company gave a lower-than-expected outlook for its second-quarter sales.
The chipmaker said sales should come in between $2.4 billion and $2.6 billion next quarter, compared to its first quarter sales of $2.46 billion. Analysts polled by Thompson-Reuters expected the company to give second-quarter sales guidance of $2.75 billion.
The sales forecast was attributable to an expected decline in the average wholesale price of CDMA/WCDMA devices, which will fall to about $179 next quarter from $201 this quarter. Qualcomm attributed its expectations to economic conditions in Europe and Japan as well as strengthening sales of lower-end handsets.
Despite the lackluster forecast, Qualcomm said its profit more than doubled to $841 million in its first fiscal 2010 quarter ended Dec. 27. The company posted sales of $2.67 billion, a six percent increase over the same period last year.
Qualcomm Chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs said he was “very encouraged” by the adoption of the company’s Snapdragon chipset and Brew Mobile operating system. The company’s powerful Snapdragon chip has found its way into multiple high-end smartphones, including Google’s Nexus One.