Qualcomm's Q3 beats estimates, thanks to its high-end chips

Qualcomm has an arsenal of chipsets that power a majority of smartphones out there, and it’s clear all of those processors are paying off. The company’s third quarter fiscal results are out, and it seems as though its high-end Snapdragon processors helped boost its revenue.

According to the official fiscal report, Qualcomm’s high-end MSM chip shipments were a major factor in its strong Q3 earnings. To be exact, while their projection for MSM chip shipments during Q3 was between 175 million and 195 million, they actually beat their own estimates by at least 6 million, shipping a total of 201 million chipsets.

Thanks to the strong sales, Qualcomm saw its revenue increase to $6 billion, a 4% increase from last year’s figure, and its net income increased by a whopping 22%, compared to $1.2 billion during Q3 of 2015. These numbers sent Qualcomm’s stock soaring yesterday.

It is no coincidence that Qualcomm beat its earnings and revenue estimates and Samsung is now Qualcomm’s customer once again. Unlike the Galaxy S6 and its curved sibling, Samsung decided to switch back to using Snapdragon processors for its Galaxy S7 devices – at least in the US and China.

Considering the fact that the global Galaxy S7 and S7 edge sales were nearing 25 million back in June and the Galaxy S7 siblings started outselling the iPhone in Apple’s backyard, it should not be an exaggeration to say that Qualcomm benefitted from Samsung’s excellent third quarter.

However, Samsung isn’t the only one behind Qualcomm’s strong Q3 results. According to Qualcomm’s CEO, Steve Mollenkopf, Chinese OEMs were significant contributors:

We delivered strong results this quarter, with EPS well ahead of our guidance based on meaningful progress with licensees in China. Our chipset business is also benefiting from a strong new product ramp across tiers, particularly with fast growing OEMs in China.

With the Galaxy Note7 around the corner – and rumor has it that at least some Note7 devices will sport the Snapdragon 821 processor – Qualcomm remains largely optimistic. Its Q4 guidance shows that it expects to ship even more MSM shipments next quarter, up to 215 million.

Do you think Qualcomm’s sales will continue to soar even with Intel’s modems and Samsung’s Exynos processors? Let us know in the comments below!