Forecast falls short after Samsung loss

— TroyWolverton

Qualcomm, whose chips power most of the world’s smartphones, forecast fiscal thirdquarter sales and profit that may miss estimates as customers choose rivals for key components.

Net income in the current period will be 67 cents to 82 cents a share on sales of $ 5.4 billion to $ 6.2 billion, the San Diego- based company said Wednesday. That compares with an average analyst estimate for earnings of 99 cents on revenue of $ 6.46 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Qualcomm’s chip division is suffering as some customers, such as Samsung Electronics, look elsewhere for phone components. The company said it still isn’t being paid what it is owed for the use of its technology in China, where it settled an antitrust investigation this year.

“I just don’t see how the chip business can grow from here,” said CJ Muse, an analyst at Evercore ISI. hand, and eBay has been adding to it. The San Jose company plans to send PayPal along with $ 3.5 billion in cash, and added two payments acquisitions in the past quarter: mobile- payments firm Paydiant and Israeli security company CyActive.

“The acquisition of CyActive will act as the foundation of our new security center of excellence,” Schulman said, adding that Paydiant is expected to help PayPal find a stronger home in brick- and- mortar retailers through mobile phones.

eBay shares closed Wednesday with a 0.6 percent gain at $ 56.75.

But Tesla has already been moving into energy storage systems. According to the Bloomberg report, the company has installed batteries in some 300 California homes that have solar panels, as part of a pilot program with SolarCity, a solar panel installer whose chairman is Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO. Working with SolarCity, Tesla has also installed batteries at 11 California Wal- Mart outlets.

Such storage systems can store power generated by solar panels for use when the sun isn’t shining or power rates are high, helping to reduce or eliminate electricity costs.

Many analysts are bullish on Tesla’s entry into the market. GTM, an industry research firm, expects energy storage to become a $ 1.5 billion market in the United States by 2019, which would be nearly 12 times larger than its size last year. State programs such as California’s Self- Generation Incentive Program are offering millions of dollars in rebates for companies that deploy energy storage systems. And energy storage would be another market for the batteries Tesla plans to manufacture at the factory it is constructing in Nevada.