Computer-chip designer ARM’s shares jumped 5% to their highest level in almost a year as the FTSE-100 giant has received record orders and there is a “robust” pipeline of future business.
Chief executive Warren East said 2.2 billion chips were shipped during the third quarter, with around half of them being used in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
East also claimed to be grabbing market share in other areas such as digital TV and micro-controllers for gaming devices.
Sales leapt by 20% — ahead of the wider market — in the three months to September to £144.6 million, with pre-tax profit up even more strongly at 22% to £68.1 million.
The ARM boss flagged up that he is seeing growing demand for a new generation of mobile chips which can be used in household devices such as heating and electrical appliances — dubbed “the internet of things”.
These chips require “high performance and low power technology”, he explained.
But ARM’s overall royalty revenue that it earns per chip is increasing because the Cambridge-based company is also selling more sophisticated chips for the latest “super” smartphones and tablets.
ARM’s shares climbed 28.5p to 623p, giving a stock market value close to £8.5 billion.
