Qualcomm shares fell 9% on Thursday, dragging several semiconductor companies lower with them. The chipmaker slightly beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates but issued a first-quarter forecast below expectations. Qualcomm projects adjusted earnings of $2.15 to $2.35 per share and revenue of $10.4 billion to $11.2 billion, compared with Wall Street estimates of $2.27 per share and $10.48 billion, respectively. Handset chip sales dropped 26% to $5.14 billion as rising memory costs led device makers to increase prices and weigh on demand. CEO Cristiano Amon said the main issue is supply, not demand, while fears of a data-center slowdown and potential artificial-intelligence regulation intensified the sector sell-off.
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