'Mad Money' Spotlight: Cramer on RF Micro Devices
David Moss
06/19/09 - 06:20 PM EDT
When Jim Cramer latches on to a thesis, he just won't let it drop.
Which is why it wasn't surprising to find the CEO of
RF Micro Devices, Robert Bruggeworth, on "Mad Money" Thursday night to discuss Cramer's favorite topic of late: smartphones.
RF Micro Devices is Cramer's latest tech spec. The company's mission is to put the power in those all-in-one phones, so to speak.
It makes power amplifiers for smart phones, which help to boost and filter signals coming in and out of the device. And thanks to the move to 3G move, Cramer said RF Micro Devices got a nice sales boost.
Cramer and Buggeworth agreed on one thing during their talk: the smartphone revolution is for real. As proof, the CEO said that the company began preparing for the smartphone build a few years back and continues to see regular evidence of the smart phone takeover.
Bruggeworth also said that China's strengthening 3G wireless infrastructure will only make demand for products that much better.
Bruggeworth also couldn't deny Cramer's bullish numbers that one billion smartphones could be sold in the coming two to three years.
It didn't help matters yesterday that
Research in Motion disappointed the street in forecasting dampened profits and sales in the next quarter. But Cramer and Bruggeworth added that you shouldn't look at one company in deciding on the future of 3G, but instead see it as a long-term trend with a lot of players.
Still, some were tempering their enthusiasm. Today
UBS cut RF Micro Devices stock today based on valuation, taking the North Carolina-based company from buy to neutral.
"While RFMD should benefit in [the] intermediate term through ongoing restocking, we believe that visibility into broad-based recovery in end-market demand remains limited," UBS wrote.
"Even though we are moving to a Neutral rating, we believe that the company will continue to grow revenue and expand margins, driven by recent restructuring moves and improved product portfolio, but beyond that we see no near-term catalyst with potential to meaningfully change fundamentals."
Investors still took shares up 5.1%, or 18 cents, to $3.69 at the closing bell.
