Qualcomm quarterly call delayed, shares up

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) said on Wednesday that it had to reschedule its quarterly earnings call to the morning of July 24 but did not give a reason, leading investors to speculate that it had resolved legal battles.

Qualcomm shares rose as much as 10.4 percent to $49.50 in late trade as some investors speculated that the delay means Qualcomm and No. 1 phone maker Nokia (NOK1V.HE) had come to an agreement related to their long-running legal battles.

"I think people are suspecting there must be some sort of a development there," said American Technology Research analyst Mark McKechnie, referring to a potential settlement in Qualcomm's technology licensing case with Nokia in Delaware.

Earlier in the day, a Delaware court trial between Qualcomm and Nokia had been adjourned after a court official cited "network issues."

The trial was aimed at resolving a licensing battle between them that may involve hundreds of millions of dollars in fees. But it did not start due to technical problems in the court.

Representatives of the companies at the court denied knowledge of any settlement of the case. Qualcomm and Nokia officials did not return several calls after Qualcomm, which typically reports its quarterly earnings around 4 p.m. Eastern Time every quarter, did not do so as expected on Wednesday.

A company executive came on the phone to analysts a few minutes after the time of the originally scheduled call to say that the company would provide details shortly.

"Qualcomm rescheduled their conference call until tomorrow. Thus this leads to speculation that they will make some other major announcements like a settlement regarding one of their court cases," said William Lefkowitz, options strategist at brokerage firm vFinance Investments.

Qualcomm shares had closed at $44.82 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew, additional reporting by Gina Keating in Los Angeles, editing by Phil Berlowitz)