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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GO*QCOM who wrote (27827)	4/21/1999 9:27:00 AM
From: Ibexx	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

One of the last American dreams. AOL and internuts PALE by comparison. Ibexx

To: GO*QCOM who wrote (27827)	4/21/1999 10:10:00 AM
From: CDMQ	Respond to of 152472

Wireless firm sets record for sales But restructuring costs result in net loss for Qualcomm By Mike Drummond STAFF WRITER April 21, 1999 Qualcomm yesterday reported record revenues of $932 million for the fiscal second quarter ended March 28, a 22 percent boost over sales of $761 million a year earlier. The wireless phone company also had record operating earnings for the quarter, but a $166 million charge on the sale of a money-losing unit and restructuring costs led to a net loss of $43 million or 59 cents a share, compared with net earnings of $26 million or 36 cents, a year earlier. Without the charges -- which the company said also will reflect on third-quarter earnings to the tune of $100 million -- Qualcomm had operating earnings of $65 million, or 82 cents a share, more than triple last year's $18.6 million, or 25 cents a share. The figures surpassed many Wall Street estimates and analysts congratulated Qualcomm executives yesterday on the company's strong performance. "We were expecting good results, but this is better than expected," said BT Alex Brown analyst Brian Modoff. In a quarter when Qualcomm laid off 700 mostly full-time employees and sold a division that was losing about $30 million a quarter, the company also said it continued to improve profit margins on the sales of wireless phones, OmniTracs satellite tracking systems and particularly ASICs chips -- the brains inside wireless phones. Qualcomm president Richard Sulpizio noted that the company's "Thin Phone," introduced this year, requires fewer components and is easier to manufacture than other models in the company's arsenal. The phone has proved popular -- so much so that the company has had to boost production to keep pace with demand. The phone also is rugged. Marketing vice president Jeffrey Belk has been known to throw his into the air and let it drop on trade show floors. Still, some analysts predicted the company will sell the handset division this year and concentrate on its bread-and-butter money makers -- ASICs chips and royalties off the sale of code division multiple access, or CDMA wireless phone technology. Last month Ericsson -- the world's No. 3 phone maker -- bought Qualcomm's ailing infrastructure division, settled its long-standing patent dispute with the local company and agreed to cede most of the royalties off CDMA to its smaller rival. SG Cowen & Co. analyst Wojtek Uzdelewicz said the earnings report shined a spotlight on "how bad (Qualcomm's) infrastructure business was," surmising that "Ericsson is really making a big mistake by buying it." The only "dark spot" on Qualcomm's horizon, according to chief executive Irwin Jacobs, could be a shortage of wireless phone components. Indeed, last month the company said it was looking at ways to squeeze more production from its factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and is exploring options to have phones manufactured in Mexico, including the possibility of partnering with another company. Qualcomm is cranking out phones at near-capacity in its San Diego plant. Jacobs also warned that sales may slump in South Korea, a CDMA stronghold. However, he and other officials said demand for CDMA will be ramping up in Japan, the United States and Brazil. Moreover, this month China carved up its state-run telecommunications monopoly, and Qualcomm officials and industry observers say CDMA likely will play a major role in that country's telecommunications development. On Wall Street yesterday, Qualcomm stock mostly rebounded from an 18 percent decline the previous day, closing up 12 percent at $140.621/2. Qualcomm last week announced a two-for-one stock split, effective May 10. Copyright 1999 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.