After the close today, January 19, Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), a supplier of chips for Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone announced that December quarter earnings had beaten analyst estimates by 3 cents a share. The results also beat on revenue. The company guided Wall Street to expect that earnings for the March quarter would come in at $1.40, almost exactly in line with the $1.39 Wall Street projected. Revenue would be $840 million versus the Wall Street estimate for $816.85 million.
Shares climbed 7.24% in the after-hours session.
It’s not clear to me how much of that gain in after-hours trading is on actual good news from the company and how much is relief that the results weren’t worse after all the negative rumors and reports on sales of the iPhone 7 and 7+. I suspect that most of the gain is on relief. A 3 cent a share earnings beat isn’t all that much given how low estimates had been set. And on the revenue side, while Skyworks did beat Wall Street estimates, revenue still fell 1.3% year-over year. Revenue for the quarter equalled $914.3 million versus the $902.66 million Wall Street estimate. (The company did, in addition, announce a new $500 million stock purchase program.)
The positive guidance for the March quarter wasn’t all that positive either. The company expects revenue to climb 8% year-over year.
Either possibility–that the gain was on relief or because Skyworks announced actual good news–is a plus for other Apple suppliers (such as Qualcomm, which reports on January 25) and for Apple itself (which reports on January 31.)
Qualcomm is a member of my Dividend Portfolio. Apple is a member of my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio
