Qualcomm’s 1Q Beats Street, Boosts View

Shares of Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) surged in trading after the bell, as the company reported fiscal first-quarter results that easily beat expectations and boosted its full-year guidance above analyst consensus.

The company said demand for its chipsets remains robust as global demand for smartphones ramps up.  MSM shipments in the first quarter rose 32% to 156 million units, compared with the first quarter of last year. The chip-maker forecast second-quarter shipments of its chipsets to range between 146 and 154 million units.

The San Diego-based company lifted its forecast for adjusted earnings in fiscal 2012 to a range between $3.55 and $3.75 a share on revenue between $18.7 billion and $19.7 billion, which bests the Street’s projections for $3.59 a share on revenue of $18.48 billion.

For the current quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings between 91 and 97 cents on revenue ranging from $4.6 billion to $5.0 billion, well above analyst forecasts for 89 cents a share on revenue of $4.51 billion.

Qualcomm reported first-quarter net income that rose 20% year-over-year to $1.4 billion, or 97 cents a share, compared with year-ago earnings of 82 cents a share.

Revenue surged 14% to $4.68 billion, up from year-ago sales of $3.35 billion.

The results beat expectations on both the top and bottom line; analysts had predicted earnings of 90 cents on revenue of $4.58 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

Dr. Paul Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm, said the strong quarterly performance was partly due to record global demand for smartphones.

"We are raising our revenue and earnings guidance as our broad licensing partnerships and extensive chipset roadmap, led by our integrated Snapdragon processors, position us well for strong growth in fiscal 2012,” Jacobs said in a statement. “We continue to invest in innovative wireless technologies, products and services, and we are excited about the opportunities ahead as 3G and 4G continue to expand across new device types and geographies."

Shares of Qualcomm rose 1.3% in Wednesday’s session, closing the day at $59.56.  The stock rallied $2.81, or 4.7%, in after-hours trading.