Qualcomm (QCOM) is scheduled to report results of its first fiscal quarter after the market closes on January 30, with a conference call scheduled for 4:45 pm ET. What to watch for: 1. Q1 EPS, REVENUE CONSENSUS CHANGE: Along with its last report, Qualcomm guided for Q1 adjusted earnings per share of $1.05-$1.15 on revenue of $4.5B-$5.3B. At the time, analysts were expecting the company to report Q1 EPS of 95c on revenue of $5.57B, but those figures have since changed to $1.09 and $4.9B, respectively. 2. NXP DEAL 'CLOSED': On December 3, Qualcomm said that it was "grateful to learn" about U.S. President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping's comments about the previously proposed acquisition of NXP (NXPI), but noted that the deal had been terminated and that it considers the matter "closed." The comments came in response to the White House saying that China's government was "open to approving" Qualcomm's acquisition of NXP, should it be revived. Following the news, Morgan Stanley analyst Graig Hettenbach said that "a lot has changed" since Qualcomm's initial offer, noting that the semiconductor industry at the time was in the midst of a correction that will likely mean downward estimate revision risk in 2019. 3. PRELIMINARY INJUNCTIONS: Continuing the ongoing patent dispute with Apple (AAPL), Qualcomm announced in mid-December that the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court in China had granted the its request for two preliminary injunctions against four Chinese subsidiaries of Apple, ordering them to immediately cease infringing upon two Qualcomm patents through the unlicensed importation, sale and offers for sale in China of the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. Ten days later, Qualcomm said that the District Court of Munich found that Apple was infringing Qualcomm's intellectual property for power savings in smartphones and granted Qualcomm's request for a permanent injunction, ordering Apple to cease the sale, offer for sale and importation for sale in Germany of infringing iPhones. 4. KERRISDALE SHORT: Last week, Kerrisdale Capital said it was short Qualcomm shares as the company's "imminent loss" in its ongoing trial against the Federal Trade Commission is "more serious" than the market believes it is since it "accelerates the demise" of its patent licensing business. Kerrisdale said that Qualcomm was "teetering on the brink of disaster," adding that the "licensing business, despite contributing far less revenue than the chip business, has historically supplied roughly two thirds of Qualcomm's profits, thanks to its extremely high profit margins."
