Somebody has some sense>
Qualcomm shares plummet
By Mike Tarsala, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 9:53 PM ET Sep 1, 1999
NewsWatch
Hardware Report
SAN DIEGO (CBS.MW) -- Qualcomm shares plummeted Wednesday
amid concerns the company might not be able to exceed its fourth-quarter
earnings expectations as much as in past quarters.
Shares of Qualcomm (QCOM: news, msgs), which
have been one of Nasdaq's best performers this
summer, closed down 23 1/2 to 168 11/16.
The company's profit margins may be squeezed in
its line of wireless phone handsets, due to pricing
pressure, according to an analyst report.
Still, Qualcomm isn't trying to get rid of its handset
business, says Mark Roberts, an analyst with
Everen Securities Inc. in Chicago and author of the
report.
Qualcomm has been on a tear in the past six
months, said David Heger, an analyst with A.G.
Edwards & Sons Inc. The shares traded near 36 in
early March.
Heger said he doubts that squeezed margins for
handsets, which is a relatively low-margin area, will
have a strong effect on Qualcomm's earnings. The company's fattest
profit margin -- about 50 percent -- comes from computer chip sets that
are sold to cell phone manufacturers, he says.
Mike Tarsala is a reporter for CBS MarketWatch.
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