HF / David / Sag- Re: Barrons Fred Hickey Hit piece-
Agreed , David, WRT –
:First Hickey likes companies with "high cash flows, clean balance sheets and hefty gross margins", all of which apply to QCOM.
Second he likes companies like NOK, MSFT, EMC, ADBE, ORCL whose sales he thinks will hold up well in a recession.”
On QCOM- Hickey says >>>
“He's also down on Qualcomm (QCOM), whose customers are suppliers to the big wireless outfits, which, heavily laden with inventories, reportedly are asking for a slowdown in shipments. He suspects the company's guidance on operating results are at risk. An institutional favorite, Qualcomm shares could be ripe to become a target for a spate of aggressive selling.”
To Sag’s post- Hickey appears to be contradicting himself in a least two respects.
+ Saying NOK, the dominant wireless handset name will “hold up well in a recession”, yet QCOM the dominant silicon supplier in wireless won’t. One would think “what good for the goose is good for the gander” ???
+ How could he overlook QCOM’s clean balance sheet, high cash flows, and especially its “hefty gross margins” simply defies logic!!
QCOM NOK MSFT S&P500
+ gross mgn –ttm 68.2 35.1 80.8 44.5
+ oper mgn- ttm 31.4 13.5 36.7 18.3
+ net mgn- ttm 33.7 10.4 29.3 12.1
One has to wonder of Hickey’s motivation for dissing QCOM while at the same time praising NOK --- for in doing so Hickey reveals his “analytical skills / judgment” suspect to say the least, and places his reputation as a serious investment guru at high risk. Wonder if serious money (his / his friends) is on the line??? |
