Even as global smartphone growth slows -- causing pain for Apple, a top smartphone maker -- Qualcomm benefits because it’s supplying manufacturers in China that are growing by taking market share from Apple.

Sales of phones in China have been good enough to shift a build-up of unused components, said Qualcomm Chief Financial Officer George Davis. “You’ve seen inventory go down pretty rapidly,” he added.

The company’s shares rose as much as 4.3 per cent in extended trading after closing at US$49.75 in New York. The stock is down more than 20 per cent this year, making it the second-worst performer on the benchmark Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index in that period.

Profit in the fiscal second quarter was 80 cents a share, excluding certain items. Adjusted revenue was US$5.2 billion. Analysts had predicted adjusted earnings of 70 cents a share on revenue of US$5.19 billion.

“China’s coming from a deep bottom and getting a little bit better,“ Mike Walkley, an analyst for Canaccord Genuity Inc., said ahead of the results. “You’ve seen China burn through a lot of excess inventory.”

While Qualcomm still supplies some chips to Apple, a legal dispute has soured relations between the two companies and the iPhone maker has started using chips from other suppliers. Qualcomm said on Wednesday that it experienced a large decline in orders for modems from one customer. Apple is the main customer for that type of Qualcomm component. That suggests recent industry reports of weaker component demand may be pointing at Apple, rather than a general slowdown.

Qualcomm has been plagued by endless legal battles, government fines, a waning smartphone market, customers that won’t pay and a failed hostile takeover bid by rival Broadcom. Earlier on Wednesday, the stock touched its lowest intraday level since early 2016. All that left a low bar for Qualcomm’s quarterly results.

One of the cornerstones of the company’s plan to reignite earnings growth is its acquisition of NXP Semiconductors NV. That deal, the biggest Qualcomm has ever attempted, was announced in 2016 and is still waiting for regulatory approval in China.

The company is confident it can close the transaction ahead of a July 25 deadline. While trade tension between the US and China suggests permission is unlikely to come soon, the two sides are likely to settle into calmer negotiations starting next month, said Chief Executive Officer Steve Mollenkopf.

“We’re obviously not immune to the difficult environment that exists between the countries,” he said. “From a timing perspective, this is not the best time to take the temperature.”

Should the chip maker fail to close the acquisition, it is prepared to buy back US$20 billion to US$30 billion of its own stock. Qualcomm has a market capitalisation of US$74 billion.

While selling mobile chips provides the company with the majority of its revenue, licensing patents that underpin the fundamentals of all modern phone systems contributes the bulk of its profit. The latter unit has struggled in the face of a worldwide legal assault by Apple, which has stopped paying.

Qualcomm said on Thursday that dates for key phases of the legal fight with Apple are rapidly approaching, raising the likelihood of settlement or a victory that would give it leverage in talks.

Qualcomm forecast license sales of US$850 million to US$1.05 billion in the current period, a decline of as much as 27 per cent from a year earlier. The fees this division charges may fall as some customers opt for new agreements that cover a smaller number of patents only used in industry standards, Qualcomm said. In the past, Qualcomm had licensed all of its patents together.

License fees are charged as percentage of the selling price of a phone, but there’s often a cap for more expensive devices. The company amended its agreement with Samsung Electronics Co. to lower the cap. Currently, if a Samsung phone is sold for more than US$500, the fee is calculated as a percentage of US$500 and no more. The new deal sets the cap at US$400. Samsung is the world’s largest smartphone maker.