Qualcomm (QCOM) is scheduled to report results of its second fiscal quarter after the market close on April 25, with a conference call scheduled for 4:45 pm ET. What to watch for: 1. CONSENSUS DOWN SIGNIFICANTLY: Along with its last report, Qualcomm guided for Q2 adjusted earnings per share in the range of 65c-75c on revenue of $4.8B-$5.6B. At the time, analysts were expecting the company to report Q2 EPS of 85c on revenue of $5.19B, but those figures have both since dropped to 70c and $5.19B, respectively. 2. BROADCOM DROPS PROPOSAL: On March 12, U.S. president Donald Trump issued an executive order blocking Broadcom's (AVGO) attempt to acquire Qualcomm. The order stated that there was "credible evidence" that led the president to believe that Broadcom "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States" should it exercise control of Qualcomm. Two days later, Broadcom announced that it had withdrawn and terminated its offer for Qualcomom and had withdrawn its slate of independent director nominees for Qualcomm's 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. 3. JACOBS BUYOUT ATTEMPT: On March 15, the Financial Times reported that former Qualcomm chairman Paul Jacobs had approached a number of global investors in an effort to acquire the chipmaker. Jacobs had informed members of the Qualcomm board about his intention to launch a buyout, with SoftBank (SFTBF) as one of the potential investors approached by the longtime Qualcomm chairman. A day later, Qualcomm announced that Jacobs would not be re-nominated the the company's board following his notification that he had explored the possibility of proposed to buy the chipmaker. CNBC reported earlier this month that Jacobs was speaking with strategic investors and sovereign wealth funds to chip in for a fully financed bid to take Qualcomm private in the next two months. 4. NXP MOFCOM: Last week, Qualcomm said that it and NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), at the request of the Ministry of Commerce in China, have withdrawn and refiled the notice of acquisition regarding the companies' planned combination. The move extended the parties' purchase agreement to July 25. 5. ZTE BAN: Last week, the U.S. Department of Commerce banned U.S. companies from selling components to Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp. (ZTCOY) for seven years for violating the terms of a sanctions violation case. Reuters reported a day later that the move by the Commerce Department will negatively affect Qualcomm, as it sells the bulk of the chips in ZTE cell phones and roughly 46M of those phones were sold last year.
