Qualcomm sales beat analyst's expectations but profit drops by 90 percent

While some tech companies are reporting record profits for last quarter, Qualcomm's numbers are anything but good. The chipmaker today reported its fourth quarter earnings for 2017 and they are grim. While chip sales rose 13 percent, overall profits dropped 90 percent and revenue fell 4.5 percent. The company has put much of the blame for the poor results on the ongoing legal battle with Apple.

Analysts expected earnings of $0.81 per share and a total revenue of $5.8 billion. Qualcomm did beat those estimates with earnings of $0.92 per share and a revenue of $5.96 billion. Much of the success has come from demand for its Snapdragon mobile processors. CEO Steve Mollenkopf said that he continues to view this as a strong growth trend.

Net income dropped to just $168 million which is down from $1.60 billion last year. Qualcomm stated in its release that earnings were “negatively impacted as a result of actions taken by Apple and its contract manufactures.” Wall Street was more impressed with the strong earnings, though, so Qualcomm's stock held steady.

Qualcomm has seen its shares drop recently following reports that Apple may be building future iPhones and iPads with hardware from other vendors. The two companies have been going aftereach other in court all year. Apple filed a $1 billion lawsuit over unfair royalty practices and Qualcomm has been attempting to gain an import ban on iPhones in the US.