Qualcomm's All Fired Up

Qualcomm's (Nasdaq: QCOM) founder and CEO, Irwin Jacobs, is beginning to sound like a broken record when reporting his company's performance. Once again, the wireless technology supplier trounced even the most optimistic estimates, reporting earnings of $488 million on revenues of $1.2 billion. Even subtracting out onetime effects of its strategic initiatives segment, QSI, the company was left with $442 million in income, a 41% rise from last year. Actual performance came in a full $0.05 ahead of the $0.48 consensus estimate.

Comments from its fiscal second-quarter press release sound very much the same as the prior three quarters -- increased sales of CDMA handsets, strong demand for its chipsets, and raised guidance for future quarters. Another solid $714 million in free cash flow helped the company increase its balance of cash and equivalents to a hefty $6.6 billion.

The company is also seeing emboldened average selling prices (ASPs) for CDMA handsets -- average prices for phones typically drop from one year to the next by 10% or more. But Qualcomm believes 2004 should show ASPs flat from 2003, an indication that consumers are gobbling up its feature-rich, next-generation models with advanced data capabilities.

So far, 2004 has shaped up to be a far better year than Qualcomm ever imagined, with its fiscal 2004 earnings outlook now a full 50% above where management saw it less than six months ago. Similarly, Qualcomm's revenue outlook has zoomed from a 3%-7% year-over-year increase to a 26%-29% increase. And many investors believe the company is still erring on the conservative side with its recent outlook.

Qualcomm's earnings streak tops an impressive season for wireless equipment makers. Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY) put together an impressive turnaround, and many smaller players such as Sierra Wireless (Nasdaq: SWIR) and Novatel (Nasdaq: NVTL) have been taking the fast lane in the wireless recovery. Not one to be left out, even the long-struggling Motorola (NYSE: MOT) dropped jaws with a blowout quarter. In a reversal of fortune, Nokia's (NYSE: NOK) dud quarter has so far proven to be the only party-crasher in the sector so far.

With the global wireless business back in style, Qualcomm is riding high on strong growth trends. Once a "story stock" that rode the bubble up -- and down -- Qualcomm is proving its mettle and indicating that the best part of its story may still lie ahead.

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It's rumored that Fool contributor Dave Mock once defied air quality standards and drove a car for months that only fired on three of four cylinders. While he does not own shares in Qualcomm, he has written a biography on the company, The Qualcomm Equation. He does own shares of Motorola -- but has not written a book on it.