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To: Dealer who wrote (11704)11/4/2000 5:02:00 PM
From: Dealer  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 65232
 
QCOM--Stock in the Spotlight: Qualcomm
By Dan Bernstein
Editorial Assistant
11/4/00 10:45 AM ET

The Qualcomm File
Operations
Business: Developer, producer, and licenser of wireless communications technology
1999 Revenue: $2.45 billion
1999 Earnings Per Share: 31 cents
2000 Estimated Revenue Growth: 12%
5-year Annualized EPS Growth: 64.9%
Stock Snapshot
52-Week Range: $51.50 - $200
Percentage Change from Jan. 1: -65%
Market Cap: $46.8 billion
P/E Multiple: 61
Shares Outstanding: 745.1 million

If you're the prom queen one year, the next step you take is down off the pedestal.

Qualcomm (QCOM:Nasdaq - news) understands this feeling all too well. The San Diego-based company, a leader in mobile-communication technology, was the market's darling in 1999, rising a sick 2,619%. But for Wall Street it was apparently more of a crush than true love, as the stock has tumbled 66% so far this year.

Whether you got in early, late or haven't yet touched the stock, the moonshot and subsequent freefall have eclipsed anything that's been going on with the company's business. Since Qualcomm turned in its quarterly report card on earnings Thursday, this week's expanded Stock in the Spotlight examines the company's numbers, recent business moves and which professionals think the stock is worth a look.

The queen has lost some luster this year, but its earnings put it in good graces with Wall Street. Qualcomm posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 25 cents a share, beating lowered estimates by a penny. The company also posted revenue of $635 million, an 11% decline from the year-earlier quarter. But the fact that the company beat estimates -- something some investors feared it wouldn't do -- placated the Street and sent the stock up 12% Friday.

Regarding Qualcomm's business operations, its relationship with the Asian tigers has played like a soap opera recently, matching on-again, off-again hopes in South Korea with temptations of large-scale licensing contracts in China. Should these situations play out in the best interest of Qualcomm, it could soon regain its dominance in these markets with the production and licensing of its mobile-phone chip CDMA technology. CDMA is one of three basic mobile communications platforms, competing for uncertain future market dominance.

5-Day

5-Year


But the real rough and tumble for the company comes in the form of its shares. Anyone who has been holding on to them for a while has no doubt questioned this themselves. With last year's skyrocketing performance a distant memory, the stock extended its year-long slide into the first half of this week, dropping another 18%. The earnings, posted after the market's close Thursday, turned that around: In after-hours trading Thursday, the stock rose 8.4% and continued a steady course upward Friday.

It's been a disheartening year for Qualcomm investors, and many may be waiting for the other shoe -- continued revenue weakness, increased competition, dwindling stock price -- to drop. Of course, the mutual funds listed below hope that shoe becomes a glass slipper again.