This morning, the E.U. dropped its antitrust case against Qualcomm (QCOM:Nasdaq) without levying any fines to the company. By way of background, in 2005, Ericsson, Nokia, Broadcom, NEC, Panasonic and Texas Instruments filed charges against QCOM, saying that its royalty fees were unfair, unreasonable and excessive -- naturally, QCOM denied all charges.
The announcement removes an overhang in the stock, although it shouldn't be too surprising, especially after QCOM negotiated separate deals with Nokia and Broadcom over the past year: QCOM/Nokia entered into a new 3G/4G contract last summer, and QCOM/Broadcom announced a multiyear patent agreement in April. Both companies dropped their complaints as a result of their new arrangements with QCOM, so the case was much weaker as a result.
Today, Ericsson withdrew its complaint, and word is that the remaining companies will do the same; this is what prompted the E.U. to drop its case. So the announcement today removes one uncertainty and will lower QCOM's legal costs; this could add a penny or two to fiscal 2010 earnings.
My long-term thinking hasn't changed for QCOM, and it remains one of the best-positioned stories for 2010 as consumer demand picks up (-7% in 2009 vs. expected 8%-10% in 2010) and as more technology gets added to the smartphone (which will lead to higher royalty rates and market share for QCOM).
That said, I recently bought shares at $41, and if the stock recovers to the upper $40s, I will likely trim into strength and take some profits. My long-term target, however, is low $50s, or 20 times earnings (still below its long-term 22 times average).
Regards,
Jim Cramer
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DISCLOSURE: At the time of publication, Cramer was long QCOM.
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| Dow Jones | S&P 500 | NASDAQ | 10-Year Note | |
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