For this article, I want to talk about a tech stock that has had a tough year but seems to be turning around. It is trending up over the last week, and I have recently added shares to this well-known name as well.
Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) shareholders have had better years. 2015 has brought significant declines in its stock price, and the company has consistently disappointed in the year that is just about to close. Qualcomm has recently lowered guidance as it, along with most of the chip industry, has struggled with very weak global demand and earnings will be down year-over-year in FY2015. Qualcomm also had its own specific troubles in China, which is a critical market for its earnings and growth prospects.
However, over the past week or so the company has been the recipient of some positive actions that might give it some momentum as we head towards 2016. The company announced this week that it had entered into a new 3G and 4G patent license agreement Xiaomi, a leading Chinese smartphone maker. This is a huge deal as part of the headwinds the stock has faced this year is the lack of these sorts of license deals in China as well as a tough recent settlement with Chinese regulators. This involved cutting its royalty rates by 35% and paying a fine of $975 million, but this deal should also result in OEM’s in China more accurately reporting sales as well.
The Xiaomi license deal is significant as this OEM is responsible for five percent of all global smartphone sales over the past four quarters. The deal takes Qualcomm closer to resolving issues pertaining to its most profitable business of licensing patents and aids it in securing an additional foothold in the critical Chinese market. Qualcomm could also benefit from reaching a similar deal with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) next year and it is assumed that it products will be in the Galaxy 7 when it is launched in 2016 as well.
The company will still have to deal with regulatory issues in Europe and South Korea, and the company is also under pressure from activists – which is a good thing for shareholders as they will keep management’s feet to the fire.
Leave A Comment