Qualcom stock jumps to record high
NEW YORK, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc. (NasdaqNM:QCOM - news) shares broke into record territory Monday as the wireless telephone technology provider said it would use its $1.4 billion in cash to invest in companies that would speed the adoption of systems it pioneered.
Analysts said the stock is also feeling a jolt from momentum players, or traders taking positions in the stock betting that it will keep climbing.
``All in all, it's a confluence of factors -- news announcements today, a foreign order and the fact that the stock has broken new ground,' said Rick Berry, an analyst with J.P. Turner & Co.
Qualcomm rose as high as 224, up 10-1/16 from Friday's closing price. The stock settled back to trade around 221 at midday, still higher than the previous high of 214-7/8.
Pete Peterson, an analyst with Volpe Brown Whelan, said investors were reacting to the generally positive tone coming out of a telecommunication conference under way in Geneva.
``There is a growing sentiment that wireless is key to the total Internet story,' he said. ``I think that is radically different from what I heard a year ago.'
At the conference, Qualcomm unveiled a handset prototype. The model phone incorporates videoconferencing and Web browsing that the company says may be included on future contracts. It also includes a color display, touch panel control and retractable keypad cover to protect the screen.
Qualcomm Chairman Irwin Jacobs also told Reuters while at the conference that the company would look to strike deals with other technology companies similar to agreements with Leap Wireless (NasdaqNM:LWIN - news), in which it took a small stake, and Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news), with which it formed a joint venture called Wireless Knowledge.
In addition, Qualcomm said the Chinese government cleared its contract with a subsidiary of Guangdong Nanfang Communications Group to provide satellite data services in China.
Analysts said Qualcomm's stock may be getting a modest boost from the China deal, but that the contract is small in terms of Qualcomm's overall business. |
