Snapdragon 8 Elite helps Qualcomm records strong fourth quarter performance

Qualcomm recorded a strong financial performance in the fourth quarter of FY2024, reporting $10.24 billion in revenue (a 12% increase year-over-year) and earnings per share of $2.69. Wall Street analysts have previously estimated $9.90 billion and $2.56, respectively.

In the mobile area, the San Diego tech giant also recorded a 12% rise in handset revenue, driven by the not-so-long-ago launch of the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

The latest mobile SoC outperforms Apple’s A18 Pro in benchmarks, replacing the Kyro CPUs with the new Oryon CPU to record a desktop-like performance with 2 prime cores and 6 performance cores. Major brands like Xiaomi, OPPO, Samsung, and OnePlus have already tapped the chip to power its future smartphones.

“We will continue to transform Qualcomm from a wireless communications company into a connected computing company for the age of AI,” says Qualcomm boss Cristiano Amon during the earnings call.

Qualcomm also had a 68% surge in automotive revenue, fueled by the adoption of Snapdragon Elite platforms by major car manufacturers like Li Auto and Mercedes-Benz. The company’s IoT revenue also grew by 21.7% to $1.68 billion, and its total revenue for the fiscal year 2024 is recorded at $39 billion, up to 9% from 2023.

“We are excited about our recent product announcements at Snapdragon Summit and Embedded World, as they continue to extend our technology leadership and position us well across Handsets, PC, Automotive and Industrial IoT,” Amon says.

A while ago, Qualcomm also partnered with Mistral AI to integrate its new generative AI models, Ministral 3B & 8B, into Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered devices including smartphones, vehicles, and PC.