Qualcomm reported robust fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations for both earnings and revenue. The company's shares spiked 10% in after-hours trading before stabilizing to a 4% gain. Qualcomm reported an adjusted earnings per share of $2.69 against the expected $2.56 and generated revenue of $10.24 billion, beating estimates of $9.90 billion. Looking ahead, Qualcomm expects December quarter revenues to range between $10.5 billion and $11.3 billion, exceeding analysts' forecasts. Net income jumped to $2.92 billion, up from $1.49 billion last year, while annual revenue for fiscal 2024 hit $33.19 billion, marking a 9% increase over 2023.

Historically tied to the smartphone industry, Qualcomm supplies chips to many handset manufacturers, including high-end Android devices and Apple’s iPhones, and recently introduced its Snapdragon 8 Elite chip for 2025. Under CEO Cristiano Amon, the company has made strides in diversifying its business into sectors like automotive, industrial IoT, and computing. Automotive sales surged 86% year-over-year to $899 million, and the IoT segment grew 22% to $1.68 billion, driven by demand for industrial applications and Meta’s Quest handsets. Qualcomm’s core chip business, QCT, rose 18% to $7.37 billion in sales, while its licensing segment, QTL, saw a 21% increase to $1.52 billion in revenue. The board also approved an additional $15 billion in buybacks, with $1.3 billion repurchased in the fourth quarter alone.