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Qualcomm Technologies Inc. reported its second-fiscal quarter earnings today, and the mobile chip maker once again beat Wall Street expectations.

Qualcomm posted a profit before certain costs such as stock compensation of 80 cents per share versus the 70 cents forecast by analysts. Revenue fell 13 percent, to $5.23 billion, thanks to the expense of a patent dispute with Apple Inc. and other companies, but the figure came in a little higher than analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion.

Today’s results gave Qualcomm’s shares a modest boost in after-hours trading, which peaked at about 2 percent above their closing value but later eased back to a 1.5 percent gain after the company provided conservative guidance for the current quarter. Update: On Thursday, shares were inching up a little under 1 percent.

During a call with investors, Qualcomm Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf said that the company’s earnings results were largely thanks to the solid performance of its semiconductor business. He also credited a reduction in Qualcomm’s operating expenses, and he said that the company is “making good progress” on its $1 billion cost reduction plan.

Licensing, Qualcomm’s other major business, did not fare as well because of the legal battles with Apple, which has withheld $1 billion in royalty payments to Qualcomm. Mollenkopf said he expects the trial with Apple to commence by the end of the year, but he added that the company still hopes to resolve its conflict with Apple out of court.

Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, told SiliconANGLE that Qualcomm’s earnings showed some impressive gains for the company, and he noted that this should be the last quarter that Apple’s nonpayment will affect Qualcomm’s profits and losses. However, he also said that Qualcomm’s ongoing bid to acquire NXP Semiconductors N.V. could be in trouble.

“While I believe that the NXP acquisitions would be good for the company, every day that China stalls approving it, the less likely it will actually happen,” said Moorhead. “The good news is that without Apple payment or NXP, Qualcomm is growing in automotive, IoT, WiFi and analog RF chips.”

Qualcomm’s investors are also worried about the future of the NXP deal, and Mollenkopf sought to assure them during today’s call that the acquisition is still on track. “We continue to work closely with China, but the environment is obviously quite difficult from a geopolitical point of view, at least right now,” said Mollenkopf. “However, we expect to ultimately receive approval, and I just want to remind folks that we have eight of nine jurisdictions that have already ruled on it. We remain committed to it and we think it’s going to get done.”

Mollenkopf added that even if the deal does not go through, Qualcomm believes that it has “the ability to move very rapidly on a buyback.” He also noted that Qualcomm added a 90-day extension to its merger agreement, and if its acquisition is not successful by then, the company will “move on to another approach.”

Photo: Qualcomm