Qualcomm, Citrix, Symantec lead tech earnings

Qualcomm led the tech earnings parade Thursday as it delivered better-than-expected results. Citrix and Symantec also delivered strong financials.

The wireless chip maker reported first quarter earnings of $1.17 billion, or 71 cents a share, on revenue of $3.35 billion, up 25 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 82 cents a share, four cents better than estimates.

As for the outlook, Qualcomm boosted its second quarter guidance. The company projected non-GAAP earnings of 77 cents a share to 81 cents a share on revenue of $3.45 billion to $3.75 billion. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 76 cents a share on revenue of $3.44 billion.

For 2011, Qualcomm is projecting non-GAAP earnings of $2.91 a share to $3.05 a share on revenue of $13.6 billion to $14.2 billion.

Among other key tech earnings:

• Citrix reported fourth quarter earnings of $49 million, or 49 cents a share, on revenue of $530 million, up 17 percent from a year ago. No-GAAP earnings were 65 cents a share, a nickel better than Wall Street estimates. For 2010, Citrix reported earnings of $277 million, or $1.46 a share, on revenue of $1.87 billion. Citrix projected a big year for 2011. The company said revenue will be $2.10 billion to $2.14 billion and non-GAAP earnings will be $2.29 a share to $2.33 a share. That projection is ahead of the $2.28 earnings per share on revenue of $2.06 billion Wall Street expected. First quarter non-GAAP earnings are expected to be 40 cents a share to 41 cents a share.
• Symantec reported fiscal third quarter earnings of $132 million, or 17 cents a share, on revenue of $1.6 billion. Non-GAAP earnings were 35 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting earnings of 33 cents a share on revenue of $1.58 billion. The company saw solid results in its consumer, backup and data loss prevention businesses. Meanwhile, Symantec's storage management business---the problem child of the company---was stable. Symantec projected fourth quarter earnings between 15 cents a share and 16 cents a share. Non-GAAP earnings were projected to be 35 cents a share and 36 cents a share. Revenue will be $1.58 billion to $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter. Those projections are in line with expectations.