Arm beats forecasts with 47pc profit jump
Chip designer ARM beat expectations with a 47 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit on , helped by booming growth in smartphones and tablet computers, and said it was well placed for 2011.
The company, whose architecture is licensed to chipmakers like Infineon , Qualcomm and Samsung, reported pre-tax profit of 47.6 million pounds on 34 per cent higher revenue of £113.9m, equating to earnings per share of 2.9 pence.
ARM said 2011 would bring exciting opportunities as it entered competitive new markets and it was well positioned, but it said growth in the industry would return to more typical levels after the strong recovery seen in 2010.
It said it expected group dollar revenues for 2011 to be at least in line with market expectations.
Nearly all the world’s mobile phones use ARM’s low power technology, as do most tablets – a category that hardly existed before the debut of Apple’s iPad in April.
ARM’s success in mobile computing was endorsed last month by Microsoft, with its decision to configure Windows for ARM chips, sending shares in the Cambridge-based company to a 10-year high.
The stock now trades on a sky-high price-earnings multiple of 51, setting a high bar for both its numbers and outlook.