Qualcomm Leads Strong 2022 Q1 Revenue, Led by High Chip Demand

Semiconductor company Qualcomm Inc. revealed one of its most robust quarterly earnings for 2022’s first quarter (Q1), showing high demand for smartphones and cars chips.

“Demand remains strong across all of our technologies and continues to exceed supply,” Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm Chief Executive Officer (CEO), said during an analysts call, adding that supply shortages are decreasing, highlighting that “bottlenecks are expected to persist,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

On Wednesday, the California-based company publicized $10.7 billion in sales revenue, and $3.4 billion in net incomes in its latest quarter, exceeding Wall Street calculations. For its current quarter, the chip manufacturing giant generated a revenue of $11 billion. With that, it lined itself up with other semiconductor firms that reported a remarkable revenue in the past week.

Semiconductor companies’ heavy profit report is mainly driven by the global escalated heavy demand for chips, sparked by the overtaking of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Qualcomm’s chip business, QCT, recounted a sales revenue increased by 35 percent from the same quarter in a fiscal year, with $8.85 billion in sales, underscoring the elevated demand for advanced microchips.

“In simple terms, we see supply improvements, and our forward guide contemplates the visibility we have in supply, we still have more demand than supply, and we would ship more if we could,” the CEO said.

The semiconductor titan’s chip division can be classified into four categories, with all marking an increase in revenue in its last quarter, hitting a 42 percent growth in handset chip sales revenue, reaching $5.98 billion.

Qualcomm’s share grew by 625 percent in regular trading, following AMD’s report of increased investments interest in the chip manufacturing firms. The company is currently seeking an expansion plan for the upcoming five years, emphasizing its supply chain beyond mobile-phone makers.

While mobile phones are the primary driver of Qualcomm’s heightened revenue, headsets are also of significant importance to the company. They played a fundamental role in fluctuating in affecting its year-over-year (YoY).

“Sales in that segment advanced 42 percent in the most recent quarter from the year-ago period amid strong demand for 5G devices. Qualcomm estimates more than 750 million 5G handsets will be shipped worldwide this year,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Other semiconductor companies have also displayed a rise in revenue, such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc., with CEO Lisa Su saying on Tuesday that its revenue stemmed from chips needed for servers could be perceived as the direct derivative of almost 31 percent of 2022’s top-line growth.