Qualcomm's earnings and revenue surpass expectations, causing a 10% increase in stock price.

• Wall Street expectations for earnings and revenue were surpassed by Qualcomm in their fourth-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, and they forecasted a robust December quarter.
• The stock popped in extended trading.
• Qualcomm's board approved $15 billion in additional share repurchases.

On Wednesday, the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed Wall Street expectations for both earnings and revenue, and provided a positive outlook for the December quarter.

The shares rose 10% in extended trading.

The company's performance for the quarter ending Sept. 29 was below Refinitiv consensus expectations.

• Earnings per share: $2.69, adjusted $2.56 expected
• Revenue: $10.24 billion versus $9.90 billion expected

Qualcomm anticipates revenue in the current quarter to be between $10.5 billion and $11.3 billion, with the midpoint exceeding LSEG's consensus forecast of $10.59 billion.

Qualcomm reported $33.19 billion in total revenue in its fiscal 2024, a 9% increase from 2023, while the company reported $2.92 billion in net income, or $2.59 per share, a sharp jump from last year's $1.49 billion, or $1.23 per share.

Historically, Qualcomm's success has been linked to the smartphone industry, where the company produces a variety of chips for handset manufacturers, including system-on-a-chip processors, modems, and antennas. The company's chips are used in most high-end Android devices and many lower-end phones as well. Additionally, Qualcomm sells modems and related chips to Apple for its iPhones, and recently announced that its 5G chip contract runs through 2026.

In October, Qualcomm launched its high-end chip for 2025, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and reported a 12% increase in handset chip sales to $6.1 billion, in line with FactSet estimates.

Under Cristiano Amon's leadership, the company has shifted away from being a smartphone supplier and has invested heavily in producing chips for PCs, cars, and industrial machines.

While Qualcomm has been promoting itself as a pioneer in AI technology by developing smartphone chips with dedicated parts for machine learning since 2017, it does not produce the type of graphics processors used in data centers for large-scale AI applications like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

The automotive industry experienced a 86% increase in sales annually, reaching $899 million. Qualcomm announced that it has billions of dollars in pending business with automakers and highlighted its fifth consecutive quarter of growth.

The company's "internet of things" business encompasses both industrial-grade chips and those used in its Quest handsets and Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, as well as a new line of laptop chips running Windows. This division generated $1.68 billion in revenue, representing a 22% increase from the previous year.

During the quarter, Qualcomm's chip business, including its handset, automotive, and other chips, reported a 18% increase in sales, totaling $7.37 billion.

QTL, the profitable technology licensing business of the company, reported $1.52 billion in revenue, representing a 21% increase from the previous year.

Qualcomm approved $15 billion in additional buybacks and repurchased $1.3 billion worth of shares during the fourth quarter, while also paying out $947 million in dividends.

WATCH: CNBC's full interview with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon