Qualcomm 10-Q 2021-12-26

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

_____________________

FORM 10-Q

_____________________

(Mark one)

For the quarterly period ended December 26, 2021

OR

For the transition period from to .

Commission File Number 0-19528

QUALCOMM Incorporated

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(858) 587-1121

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ☐ No ☒

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock was 1,127 million at January 31, 2022.

QUALCOMM Incorporated

Form 10-Q

For the Quarter Ended December 26, 2021

Risk Factors Summary:

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those described in the section labeled “Risk Factors” in “Part I, Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Quarterly Report. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following:

RISKS RELATED TO THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC

*•*The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had an adverse effect on our business and results of operations, and may continue to impact us in the future.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR OPERATING BUSINESSES

*•*We derive a significant portion of our revenues from a small number of customers and licensees, and particularly from their sale of premium tier devices. If revenues derived from these customers or licensees decrease or the timing of such revenues fluctuates, our business and results of operations could be negatively affected.

*•*Our business, particularly our semiconductor business, may suffer as a result of our customers vertically integrating (i.e., developing their own integrated circuit products).

*•*A significant portion of our business is concentrated in China, and the risks of such concentration are exacerbated by U.S./China trade and national security tensions.

RISKS RELATED TO NEW INITIATIVES

*•*Our growth depends in part on our ability to extend our technologies and products into new and expanded product areas, and industries and applications beyond mobile handsets. Our research, development and other investments in these new and expanded product areas, industries and applications, and related technologies and products, as well as in our existing technologies and products, and new technologies, may not generate operating income or contribute to future results of operations that meet our expectations.

*•*We may engage in acquisitions and other strategic transactions or make investments, or be unable to consummate planned strategic acquisitions, which could adversely affect our results of operations or fail to enhance stockholder value.

RISKS RELATED TO SUPPLY AND MANUFACTURING

*•*We depend on a limited number of third-party suppliers for the procurement, manufacture, assembly and testing of our products manufactured in a fabless production model. If we fail to execute supply strategies that provide supply assurance, technology leadership and reasonable margins, our business and results of operations may be harmed. We are also subject to order and shipment uncertainties that could negatively impact our results of operations.

*•*There are numerous risks associated with the operation and control of our manufacturing facilities, including a higher portion of fixed costs relative to a fabless model; environmental compliance and liability; impacts related to climate change; exposure to natural disasters, health crises and cyber-attacks; timely supply of equipment and materials; and various manufacturing issues.

RISKS RELATED TO CYBERSECURITY OR MISAPPROPRIATION OF OUR CRITICAL INFORMATION

*•*Our business and operations could suffer in the event of security breaches of our IT systems, or other misappropriation of our technology, intellectual property or other proprietary or confidential information.

RISKS RELATED TO HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

*•*We may not be able to attract and retain qualified employees, and our attempts to fully reopen our offices and operate under a hybrid working environment may not be successful.

RISKS SPECIFIC TO OUR LICENSING BUSINESS

*•*The continued and future success of our licensing programs requires us to continue to evolve our patent portfolio and to renew or renegotiate license agreements that are expiring.

*•*Efforts by some original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to avoid paying fair and reasonable royalties for the use of our intellectual property may require the investment of substantial management time and financial resources and may result in legal decisions or actions by governments, courts, regulators or agencies, Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) or other industry organizations that harm our business.

• Changes in our patent licensing practices, whether due to governmental investigations, legal challenges or otherwise, could adversely impact our business and results of operations.

RISKS RELATED TO REGULATORY AND LEGAL CHALLENGES

*•*Our business may suffer as a result of adverse rulings in governmental investigations or proceedings.

RISKS RELATED TO INDUSTRY DYNAMICS AND COMPETITION

*•*Our revenues depend on our customers’ and licensees’ sales of products and services based on CDMA, OFDMA and other communications technologies, including 5G, and customer demand for our products based on these technologies.

*•*Our industry is subject to intense competition in an environment of rapid technological change. Our success depends in part on our ability to adapt to such change and compete effectively; and such change and competition could result in decreased demand for our products and technologies or declining average selling prices for our products or those of our customers or licensees.

RISKS RELATED TO PRODUCT DEFECTS OR SECURITY VULNERABILITIES

*•*Failures in our products, or in the products of our customers or licensees, including those resulting from security vulnerabilities, defects or errors, could harm our business.

RISKS RELATED TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

*•*The enforcement and protection of our intellectual property may be expensive, could fail to prevent misappropriation or unauthorized use of our intellectual property, could result in the loss of our ability to enforce one or more patents, and could be adversely affected by changes in patent laws, by laws in certain foreign jurisdictions that may not effectively protect our intellectual property and by ineffective enforcement of laws in such jurisdictions.

*•*Claims by other companies that we infringe their intellectual property could adversely affect our business.

*•*Our use of open source software may harm our business.

GENERAL RISK FACTORS

*•*We operate in the highly cyclical semiconductor industry, which is subject to significant downturns. We are also susceptible to declines in global, regional and local economic conditions generally. Our stock price and financial results are subject to substantial quarterly and annual fluctuations due to these dynamics, among others.

*•*Our business may suffer due to the impact of, or our failure to comply with, the various existing, new or amended laws, regulations, policies or standards to which we are subject.

*•*There are risks associated with our debt.

*•*Tax liabilities could adversely affect our results of operations.

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

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This information should be read in conjunction with the condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in “Part I, Item 1” of this Quarterly Report and with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” for the fiscal year ended September 26, 2021 contained in our 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

This Quarterly Report (including but not limited to this section titled Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations) contains forward-looking statements. Words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “may,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report. Additionally, statements concerning future matters such as our future business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition or research and development or technology investments; new or enhanced products, services or technologies; emerging industries or business models; design wins or product launches; industry, market, business, product, technology, commercial, competitive or consumer trends, including seasonality; the 5G transition; our expectations regarding future demand or supply conditions; strategic investments or acquisitions, and the anticipated timing or benefits thereof; potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, legal or regulatory matters, U.S./China trade or national security tensions or vertical integration by our customers; competition; and other statements regarding matters that are not historical are also forward-looking statements.

Although forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report reflect our good faith judgment, such statements can only be based on facts and factors currently known by us. Consequently, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties and actual results and outcomes may differ materially from the results and outcomes discussed in or anticipated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences in results and outcomes include without limitation those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” below, as well as those discussed elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Quarterly Report. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this Quarterly Report. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made in this Quarterly Report, which attempt to advise interested parties of the risks and factors that may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

First Quarter Fiscal 2022 Overview

Revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 were $10.7 billion, an increase of 30% compared to the year ago quarter, with net income of $3.4 billion, an increase of 38% compared to the year ago quarter. Highlights from the first quarter of fiscal 2022 included:

• QCT revenues increased by 35% in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 compared to the year ago quarter, primarily due to an increase in average selling prices and favorable mix toward higher-tier 5G products in handsets, in part reflecting demand from certain Chinese OEMs as they continue to gain device share, along with higher IoT revenues.

• QTL revenues increased by 10% in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 compared to the year ago quarter, primarily due to higher estimated revenues per unit, which was primarily driven by favorable mix, including 5G.

• On October 4, 2021, we and SSW Partners, a New York-based investment partnership, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Veoneer, Inc. (Veoneer) for $37.00 per share in cash, which values the estimated total cash consideration to be paid to Veoneer’s shareholders, inclusive of amounts expected to be paid at closing for Veoneer’s outstanding equity awards and convertible senior notes due 2024, at approximately $4.5 billion. At closing, SSW Partners will acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of Veoneer, shortly after which it will sell Veoneer’s Arriver business to Qualcomm and retain Veoneer’s Tier-1 automotive supplier businesses. Following close of the Arriver business sale, we intend to incorporate Arriver’s computer vision, drive policy and driver assistance technologies into our Snapdragon automotive platform to deliver an ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) platform for automakers and Tier-1 automotive suppliers. The acquisition is expected to close in 2022, subject to certain closing conditions.

Our Business and Operating Segments

We develop and commercialize foundational technologies and products used in mobile devices and other wireless products. We derive revenues principally from sales of integrated circuit products and licensing our intellectual property, including patents and other rights.

We are organized on the basis of products and services and have three reportable segments. We conduct business primarily through our QCT (Qualcomm CDMA Technologies) semiconductor business and our QTL (Qualcomm Technology Licensing) licensing business. Our QSI (Qualcomm Strategic Initiatives) reportable segment makes strategic investments. We also have nonreportable segments, including QGOV (Qualcomm Government Technologies), our cloud AI inference processing initiative and other technology and service initiatives.

Our reportable segments are operated by QUALCOMM Incorporated and its direct and indirect subsidiaries. QTL is operated by QUALCOMM Incorporated, which owns the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Substantially all of our products and services businesses, including QCT, and substantially all of our engineering and research and development functions, are operated by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of QUALCOMM Incorporated, and QTI’s subsidiaries. Neither QTI nor any of its subsidiaries has any right, power or authority to grant any licenses or other rights under or to any patents owned by QUALCOMM Incorporated.

Seasonality. Many of our products and much of our intellectual property are incorporated into consumer wireless devices, which are subject to seasonality and other fluctuations in demand. Our revenues have historically fluctuated based on consumer demand for devices, as well as on the timing of customer/licensee device launches and/or innovation cycles (such as the transition to the next generation of wireless technologies). This has resulted in fluctuations in QCT revenues in advance of and during device launches incorporating our products and in QTL revenues when licensees’ sales occur. These trends may or may not continue in the future. Further, the trends for QTL have been, and may in the future be, impacted by disputes and/or resolutions with licensees and/or governmental investigations or proceedings.

Results of Operations

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Financial market risks related to interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates and equity prices are described in our 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K, along with certain updates described below. At December 26, 2021, there have been no material changes to the financial market risks described at September 26, 2021.

Equity Price Risk. At December 26, 2021, the recorded value of our marketable equity securities was $700 million. Certain of our marketable equity investments are in early or growth stage companies that have minimal public trading history, and the fair values of these investments have been and may continue to be subject to increased volatility.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures. Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined under Rule 13a-15(e) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act). Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting. There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting, as defined under Rule 13a-15(f) promulgated under the Exchange Act, in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Information regarding certain legal proceedings is provided in this Quarterly Report in “Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 5. Commitments and Contingencies.” We are also engaged in numerous other legal actions arising in the ordinary course of our business, and while there can be no assurance, we believe that the ultimate outcome of these other legal actions will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

We have provided updated Risk Factors in the section labeled “Risk Factors” in “Part I, Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” We do not believe those updates have materially changed the type or magnitude of the risks we face in comparison to the disclosure provided in our 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Our purchases of our equity securities in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 were:

(1)Average Price Paid Per Share excludes cash paid for commissions.

(2)On July 26, 2018, we announced a stock repurchase program authorizing us to repurchase up to $30.0 billion of our common stock. On October 12, 2021, we announced a new $10.0 billion stock repurchase authorization, which was in addition to the remaining repurchase authority under the previous program. The stock repurchase programs have no expiration date. Shares withheld to satisfy statutory tax withholding requirements related to the vesting of share-based awards are not issued or considered stock repurchases under our stock repurchase program and, therefore, are excluded from the table above.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

In January 2021, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the Merger Agreement) for the acquisition of NuVia, Inc. (NUVIA), which transaction closed in March 2021. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, we are obligated to issue shares of our common stock to three specific founders of NUVIA and certain affiliated entities of such founders from time to time upon the satisfaction of certain conditions specified in the Merger Agreement. During the quarter ended December 26, 2021, we issued an aggregate of 104,985 additional shares of our common stock to the three founders of NUVIA and their affiliates, each of whom had advised us that he or such entity was an accredited investor. These shares were issued in transactions not involving a public offering pursuant to the exemption from registration set forth in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES

Not applicable.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

(1)We shall furnish supplementally a copy of any omitted schedule to the Commission upon request.

(2)Indicates management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.