Qualcomm Names Akash Palkhiwala CFO, Q4 Results Beat Street, Shares Up 5%

(RTTNews) - Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) Wednesday announced the appointment of Akash Palkhiwala as executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Palkhiwala has been serving the company as interim CFO since August. Previously, he was Senior Vice President and finance lead for QCT, with responsibility for finance and accounting for all chipset products and segments including Mobile, RF Front End, Compute, Auto, Connectivity and Networking, and IoT.

"Akash's deep understanding of our business both operationally and strategically makes him the ideal individual to lead our finance function as we embark on a period that I believe may present the biggest opportunity for growth in Qualcomm's history," said Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. "As the 5G ramp begins, I am thrilled to congratulate Akash on this appointment."

Qualcomm also reported fourth-quarter profit of $506 million or $0.42 per share, compared with loss of $513 million or $0.36 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings were $0.78 per share for the period, down from $0.89 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.71 per share for the quarter.

Revenues for the quarter dropped to $4.81 billion from $5.78 billion in the same period last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $4.70 billion for the quarter.

Looking forward to the first quarter, Qualcomm expects $0.80 - $0.90 per share and revenues of $4.8 - $5.2 billion. Analysts currently estimate earnings of 0.83 per share and revenues of $4.86 billion.

QCOM closed Wednesday's trading at $84.63, down $0.83 or 0.97%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, gained $4.22 or 4.99% in the after-hours trade.