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Technology Stocks : The New Qualcomm - a S&P500 company -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: slacker711 who wrote (250)7/26/1999 10:34:00 PM
From: Clarksterh  Respond to of 13582
 
slacker711 - You are correct, we are rehashing something we went through several months ago. And you are also correct that the announced plans for MSM-4000 is a chip that puts both a PDA processor and a CDMA processor on one chip. But a quote from that news release:

"You can't just dump an OS onto a chip," said Qualcomm spokeswoman Anita Hix, noting the amount of code writing and integration that has yet to be done.

I think that this indicates that they are running into problems and thus that, although for the immediate future the philosophy is already a done deal, there is a reasonable chance that this will be changed in the future. I have no information to support this except that I, like engineer, think that they are likely to have some problems. They could choose to address these (hypothetical) problems by putting in a rigorous control process during design (surprisingly difficult to do), or they could go back to separate chips or some artificial separation of the one chip into very separate chips which happen to reside on the same piece of silicon.

Sorry for the confusion. I knew that Qualcomm had announced some single chip design, but didn't remember the details (e.g. which MSM, release date, how far along they were in design, ...) so I just generalized and in the process was a little misleading.

Clark



To: slacker711 who wrote (250)7/26/1999 11:41:00 PM
From: w molloy  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 13582
 
Slacker - re : MSM4000, CE, IS-95, architecture philosophy.

Hi slacker,

A 'package' can house one or more 'chips' (i.e. integrated silicon).
The package user (and the vendors own marketing blurb) often refers
to the 'package' as a 'chip'!

I covered some points regarding packages hosting multiple OS's quite recently in a discussion with Steve Malsin

Message 10563707

A chip that happens to integrate two CPU's can have two separate
OS's (one on each CPU). Mounting two separate OS's
on a single CPU is possible. A top end case tool I know of does exactly this. However, the second OS is supplied by the case tool vendor, and is specifically designed to run with a hosting OS.

The general case of mounting separate vendor's OS's (e.g. Windows CE with VxWorks RTOS) on the same CPU is not recommended.

w.



To: slacker711 who wrote (250)7/27/1999 9:21:00 AM
From: slacker711  Respond to of 13582
 
Lehman Brother's analysis of last week's earning's report....part 1

lehman.com

Headline: QUALCOMM: 3Q99 Beats, Excellent Outlook, Ests & Target Increased Again, I
Author: Tim Luke, Mark Sue (212)526-4993
Rating: 1
Company: QCOM
Country: SEO CUS
Industry: TELECM
Ticker : QCOM Rank(Old): 1-Buy Rank(New): 1-Buy
Price : $158 1/4 52wk Range: $160-19 Price Target (Old):$165
Today's Date : 07/20/99 Price Target (New):$200
Fiscal Year : SEP
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPS 1998 1999 2000
QTR. Actual Old New Old New
1st: 0.29A 0.33A 0.33A - -E - -E
2nd: 0.13A 0.41A 0.41A - -E - -E
3rd: 0.17A 0.68E 0.75A - -E - -E
4th: 0.27A 0.76E 0.88E - -E - -E
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year:$ 0.85A $ 2.18E $ 2.37E $ 3.02E $ 3.80E
Street Est.: $ 2.05E $ 2.06 $ 2.77E $ 2.79
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Price (As of 7/16): $158 1/4 Revenue (1999): 3.6 Bil.
Return On Equity (99): N/A Proj. 5yr EPS Grth: 35.0 %
Shares Outstanding: 148.0 Mil. Dividend Yield: N/A
Mkt Capitalization: 23.42 Bil. P/E 1999; 2000 : 72.6 X; 52.4 X
Current Book Value: $6.86 /sh Convertible: YES
Debt-to-Capital: 99.8 % Disclosure(s): C, A
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Post close yesterday wireless equipment leader QUALCOMM reported very
strong third quarter 1999 EPS of $0.75 (excluding one-time charges) coming in
comfortably ahead of both our high-end estimate of $0.68 and consensus
estimate of $0.63.

* Excluding operating expenses and one-time charges related to the
infrastructure business now sold to Ericsson, EPS would have reached $0.86
indicating QUALCOMM's substantial EPS leverage going forward. Based on our
confidence in QUALCOMM's earnings outlook, we are once again taking our high-end
estimates sharply higher. Our estimates for fiscal 1999 and fiscal 2000
increase from $2.18 and $3.02 to $2.37 and $3.80, respectively (calendar 1999
and calendar 2000 EPS are now $3.00 and $4.00).

* Third quarter 1999 revenues of $911 million (excluding royalties) were
broadly in line with our estimate of $934 million. ASICs drive growth was up
110% to an estimated $305 million, with impressive ASIC book-to-bill of 1.2.
Royalties were also strong at $93 million versus our estimate of $83 million.
Handset sales of approximately $420 million, versus our $450 million
estimate, were impacted by some component issues (1.7 million units flat with
second quarter 1999) with management suggesting that some shortages may
continue in fourth quarter 1999 -- however, we maintain our conservative
handset estimate of $470-480 million for fourth quarter 1999.

* QUALCOMM's gross margins surged to 35.3% versus 28.3% in second quarter
1999 while operating expenses moved sharply lower reflecting infrastructure
wind down and lower handset advertising. Operating income increased to 14%
versus 5% in second quarter 1999. Meanwhile, balance sheet strengthened with
cash increasing and receivables and inventories moving lower.

* With CDMA clearly gaining rapid momentum around the world, visibility
continuing to strengthen for second half 1999 and Street estimates moving
sharply higher, QUALCOMM remains a top pick in wireless equipment. Our new
price target increases to $200 from $165, or 40 times our new calendar 2001
EPS estimate of $5.00.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strong Third Quarter 1999, Impressive Earnings Leverage, Estimates Go Sharply
Higher Once More
Post close yesterday, CDMA innovator QUALCOMM reported very strong third
quarter 1999 EPS of $0.75 versus $0.14 in third quarter 1998 coming in
comfortably ahead of the consensus estimate of $0.63 and our high-end
estimate of $0.68. Excluding one-time charges related to the sale of the
company's infrastructure business to Ericsson and operating expenses related
to the business now sold to Ericsson, EPS for the quarter would have been an
impressive $0.86. This impressive figure now provides a clear indication of
QUALCOMM's earnings leverage going forward.

We now look for QUALCOMM's earnings to move sharply upwards from these levels
in fiscal 2000. We think third quarter highlights included extremely strong
chipset sales, the ramp of the new ThinPhone, strong royalty payments and
improving gross and operating margins. The improved visibility and strong
earnings leverage lead us to raise our high-end EPS estimates once again.
Our EPS estimates for fiscal 1999 and fiscal 2000 increase from $2.18 and
$3.02 to $2.37 and $3.80, respectively. Our new calendar 1999 and 2000
estimates are $3.00 and $4.00. We believe Street estimates will move
substantially higher this morning from current consensus levels of just $2.06
and $2.79 for fiscal 1999 and fiscal 2000.

Strong Revenue Growth Continues, Broadly In Line With our Estimates
Revenues (excluding royalty payments) in third quarter 1999 came in at $911
million broadly in line with our high-end target of $934 million. Chipset
sales were extremely strong during the quarter reflecting very robust demand
from handset manufactures in Japan, Korea, the United States, and Brazil.
QUALCOMM shipped a record 11 million MSN chipsets (bringing the total to date
to 50 million) up from 9 million in second quarter 1999. We estimate that
chip sales soared from around $230 million in second quarter 1999 to over
$300 million in third quarter 1999. The chip division closed the quarter
with an impressive book-to-bill ratio of 1.2 providing strong visibility into
the next quarter. QUALCOMM's Omnitracs division also showed good progress in
third quarter 1999 reaching $75 million while Contract Services to the
GlobalStar project exceeded our estimate of $82 million by $6 million. We
look for this line to trend lower going forward as the project nears its
launch.

While QUALCOMM does not break out its revenues by segment other than for
contract services and royalties, we believe sales by division may resemble
our estimates below.
($ in Millions)

Revenues Forecast Actual
OmniTracs $75.0 $75
CDMA Chipsets $285.0 $300
Infrastructure $30.0 $25
Globalstar $10.0 $10
Handset $450.1 $412
Other $3.0 $1
Contract Services $82.4 $88
Total $934.9 $911
Licensing & Royalties $85.0 $93

Concerns Over Component Shortages for Handsets May Be Overdone
Management confirmed QUALCOMM shipped over 1.7 million CDMA handsets during
third quarter 1999, in line with the second quarter 1999 unit level and
bringing the total to date to over 12 million units. During the quarter,
handset shipments were impacted by component shortages which have been
experienced by numerous handset vendors and which limited revenue growth to
around an estimates $410-$425 million versus our estimate of around $450
million. While removing some upside from an otherwise excellent quarter, we
believe management's concerted efforts are likely to ensure sequentially
higher unit shipments in the fourth quarter in a range of approximately 1.9
million to 2 million with revenues of over $470-$480 million. We are
encouraged by management's confirmation that the strength of demand for
components in the wireless handset area should be seen as potentially
restraining some of the upside of the company's forecasts for the phone
division rather than negatively impacting current expectations.
The handset unit's profitability has been favorably impacted by the rollout
of the new lower cost ThinPhone which is now likely to increase its
contribution to overall handset sales from third quarter 1999's 20% level to
an estimated 50% in fourth quarter 1999. We believe gross margins are likely
to continue to improve looking ahead for the unit from a current estimated
level of %-24%. During the conference call, management highlighted that its
production goal is for 1 million phones per month by the end of fiscal 1999,
which represents an improvement on earlier guidance of 1 million phones by
the end of calendar 1999.

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION: QUALCOMM provides advanced communications systems and
products based on digital wireless technology. These include the OmniTRACS
systems and digital wireless telephone systems based on CDMA technology.



To: slacker711 who wrote (250)7/27/1999 9:25:00 AM
From: slacker711  Respond to of 13582
 
Lehman Brother's analysis of last week's earning's report....part II

lehman.com

Headline: QUALCOMM: 3Q99 Beats, Excellent Outlook, Ests & Target Increase Again, II
Author: Tim Luke, Mark Sue (212)526-4993
Rating: 1
Company: QCOM
Country: SEO CUS
Industry: TELECM
Ticker : QCOM Rank(Old): 1-Buy Rank(New): 1-Buy
Price : $158 1/4 52wk Range: $160-19 Price Target (Old):$165
Today's Date : 07/20/99 Price Target (New):$200
Fiscal Year : SEP
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPS 1998 1999 2000
QTR. Actual Old New Old New
1st: 0.29A 0.33A 0.33A - -E - -E
2nd: 0.13A 0.41A 0.41A - -E - -E
3rd: 0.17A 0.68E 0.75A - -E - -E
4th: 0.27A 0.76E 0.88E - -E - -E
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year:$ 0.85A $ 2.18E $ 2.37E $ 3.02E $ 3.80E
Street Est.: $ 2.05E $ 2.06 $ 2.77E $ 2.79
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Price (As of 7/16): $158 1/4 Revenue (1999): 3.6 Bil.
Return On Equity (99): N/A Proj. 5yr EPS Grth: 35.0 %
Shares Outstanding: 148.0 Mil. Dividend Yield: N/A
Mkt Capitalization: 23.42 Bil. P/E 1999; 2000 : 72.6 X; 52.4 X
Current Book Value: $6.86 /sh Convertible: YES
Debt-to-Capital: 99.8 % Disclosure(s): C, A
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Royalties Surge
Royalty payments in third quarter 1999 reached an impressive $92.7 million
which included $6 million in license fees, versus $77 million in the prior
quarter, outpacing even our high-end expectations of $85 million. As CDMA
momentum continues to grow in the United States and abroad, we expect royalty
payments to grow at their healthy pace and, for fourth quarter 1999, we look
for total royalty payments of $97 million.

Gross Margins Continue to Improve
Gross margins improved in third quarter 1999 coming in at 35.3% versus 28.3%
in the prior quarter and 23.7% in the same period a year ago. Improving
gross margins were helped by sales mix and engineering efficiencies in both
the new generation of chipsets and the new lower cost ThinPhone. Looking
ahead we expect further improvements in overall gross margins to
approximately 36.5% by the end of fourth quarter 1999.
Operating Margins Improve as Expenses Move Sharply Lower
Strong revenues and improving gross margins allowed QUALCOMM to achieve
record earnings leverage with operating income improving to 13.5% of sales
versus 4.5% in the prior quarter and 0.8% in the same period a year ago. R&D
came in at $93.8 million or 10.3% of sales versus $99.7 million or 11.6% of
sales in second quarter 1999. Meanwhile, sales and marketing expenses were
trimmed to $50.3 million, or 5.5% of sales, versus $53.2 million or 6.6% of
sales in the prior quarter, reflecting lower levels of investment in handset
advertising with consumers. G&A expenses at the end of third quarter 1999
were $53.3 million or 5.8% of sales.
While QUALCOMM closed third quarter 1999 with an effective tax rate of 35%,
the company suggested that the tax rate is likely to trend upwards. For
fiscal 2000 we are estimating a tax rate of 36%.

Balance Sheet Metrics Improve
QUALCOMM closed third quarter 1999 with cash and equivalents of $448.2
million versus $204.6 million in the prior quarter with the boost in cash
coming from the sale of the infrastructure segment to Ericsson and cash from
operations. Accounts receivables declined to $786.8 million versus $873.7
million in the prior quarter despite the increase in sales and also declined
to a impressive 83 days in averages versus 96 days in average in the prior
quarter. Inventories at the end of third quarter 1999 were also trimmed to
$212.9 million and continued their decline to close at 36 days in average
versus 44 days in the prior quarter.
Separately, QUALCOMM recently announced that it will file a registration
statement to offer 4 million additional ordinary shares with an additional
600,000 for over-allotment. We expect QUALCOMM to use the proceeds for
general corporate purposes and working capital requirements.
Stock Opinion: Price Target Raised, Reiterate Buy
With CDMA hitting its stride and strong visibility increasing into fourth
quarter 1999, we are once again raising our high-end EPS estimates for
QUALCOMM. Our EPS estimates for fiscal 1999 and 2000 increase to $2.37 and
$3.80, respectively. Our revenue estimates (excluding royalties) are $3.65
billion in fiscal 1999 and around $4.34 billion in fiscal 2000. We are
currently looking for royalty revenues to increase from $214 million in
fiscal 1998 to around $311 million in fiscal 1999 and as high as around $450
million in fiscal 2000. With QUALCOMM's gross and operating margins likely
to provide considerable leverage, we believe these estimates may prove
conservative and we believe our estimates may move steadily higher over the
balance of calendar 1999.

We remain encouraged by the strong growth prospects for both QUALCOMM and the
global CDMA market. We believe the current strong CDMA growth and continued
wireless buildouts is a testament to benefits of CDMA technology. In the
United States, we believe the highly successful one-rate plans offered by
many major carriers such as Sprint are likely to continue to drive rapid CDMA
subscriber growth. Overseas, the removal of uncertainty of standards should
help several large new markets such as Japan, Brazil, India and China gain
momentum in 1999. We also believe QUALCOMM will benefit from increased
royalty revenues as the existing CDMA market expands and as a converged
global third generation wireless standard based on CDMA begins to be
deployed.

We continue to view QUALCOMM as a highly attractive investment vehicle in the
wireless equipment sector. Our 1 Buy rating and our new 12-month price
target of $200 is based on QUALCOMM achieving a multiple of around 40 times
our new high-end calendar 2001 estimate of $5.00.
BUSINESS DESCRIPTION: QUALCOMM provides advanced communications systems and
products based on digital wireless technology. These include the OmniTRACS
systems and digital wireless telephone systems based on CDMA technology.