Qualcomm’s Net Income Climbs 15%

Qualcomm Inc. said Wednesday that its fiscal third-quarter profit increased 15% on higher royalties and sales of handsets that provide music and faster Internet access.

The San Diego-based maker of chips for mobile phones forecast profit in its current fourth quarter of 39 cents to 41 cents a share, minus some costs.

That compares with the 42-cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

The outlook disappointed some investors after Chief Executive Paul Jacobs raised Qualcomm’s third-quarter projection twice, most recently on June 13, citing faster sales of advanced phones and higher prices.

The company has benefited as carriers update technology or move to the next generation of products using so-called wideband code-division multiple access.

“Clearly the numbers are coming in below where the Street estimated” for the fourth quarter, said Michael Burton, an analyst for ThinkEquity Partners in San Francisco.

“The June quarter didn’t disappoint.”

Shares of Qualcomm declined $2.38 to $34.35 after hours. The stock had fallen 67 cents to $36.73 in regular trading.

Qualcomm said revenue this quarter would be $1.88 billion to $1.98 billion. Analysts on average were predicting $1.99 billion.

Third-quarter net income rose to $643 million, or 37 cents a share, from $560 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier. Sales in the quarter ended June 25 rose 44% to $1.95 billion.

Qualcomm shares have fallen nearly 15% this year because of uncertainty over royalty talks with Nokia, the world’s biggest handset maker.

Investors also worry that large carriers in India and Brazil may switch to a competing technology, said John Krause, an analyst at Minneapolis-based Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, before the earnings announcement.

Thrivent manages $63 billion in assets, including Qualcomm shares.