Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) felt some serious pressure after the company reported its fiscal first-quarter earnings and shares were pushed to a new 52-week low. However, this could be an inflection point, but it also could spell further trouble for Qualcomm. As a result, a couple of key analysts weighed in on the semiconductor giant.
In its most recent earnings report, Qualcomm had $0.97 in earnings per share (EPS) on $5.8 billion in revenue. That compared to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.90 in EPS on revenue of $5.69 billion. In the same period of the previous year, the company posted EPS of $1.34 and $7.10 billion in revenue.
Merrill Lynch remains positive on Qualcomm and reiterated a Buy rating with a $75 price target. The analyst firm noted that first-quarter results beat estimates but a license dispute with LG surfaced and second-quarter guidance disappointed.
S&P Capital IQ cut its price target to $59 from $68, and it even reduced its fiscal 2016 EPS estimate to $4.05 from $4.40 and the fiscal 2017 estimate to $4.83 from $5.05. The firm noted that despite challenges at the high end of the smartphone space, it sees demand being driven by greater 3G/4G penetration in emerging markets. S&P Capital IQ thinks Qualcomm is making good progress with cost reduction efforts and notes net cash over $11 per share. It positively views recent agreements and the TDK joint venture.
Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley said:
Qualcomm reported strong first quarter results with pro forma EPS of $0.97, higher than our above-consensus $0.91 estimate due to stronger QCT shipments and lower operating costs due to faster than anticipated progress on the cost reductions program. However, second quarter guidance was below our expectations due to a challenging macro environment impacting MSM shipments and a new licensing dispute with LG. Qualcomm made great progress the past three months entering licensing agreements with leading Chinese OEMs, and this should help drive improved QTL trends in the second half of 2016. We also believe ramping sales of the Snapdragon 820 combined with ongoing cost reductions should drive stronger second half QCT revenue per MSM and margins. Overall, we anticipate gradually recovering QCT trends during fiscal 2016 primarily due to improved Android premium tier share with the Snapdragon 820, ongoing progress on the announced $1.4 billion cost savings program, and stronger MSM volumes following the seasonally weak March quarter. We maintain our BUY rating and $65 price target.
A few other analysts weighed in on Qualcomm as well:
- Bernstein cut its price target to $50 from $55.
- BMO Capital Markets lowered its price target to $46 from $47.
- Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and $67 price target.
- Pacific Crest cut its price target to $63 from $65.
- Topeka Capital cut the price target from $52 to $50.
- William Blair downgraded it to Market Perform from Outperform.
Shares of Qualcomm closed trading at $45.34 on Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $59.87 (but this may change) and a 52-week trading range of $43.47 to $74.09.
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