'Mad Money' Spotlight: Cramer Likes Tekelec

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If you believe that text messaging and the infrastructure needed to support the likes of Apple's(AAPL Quote) iPhone will continue to grow, the stock of a small telecom-equipment maker called Tekelec(TKLC Quote) presents a good buying opportunity, according to Jim Cramer.

"Tekelec rocks," Cramer said during his "Mad Money" broadcast on CNBC Thursday evening.

The company, based in Morrisville, N.C., near the Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle, makes the equipment necessary to transmit text messages and, perhaps even more lucratively, allow users to keep their phone numbers when switching carriers, a technology that's called local number portability.

Tekelec holds a 35% share of the local number portability market. Wireless providers like AT&T(KMB Quote) and Verizon(VZ Quote) need to buy local-number portability infrastructures in order to build out the mobile Internet for the growing smart-phone market.

Teklec's stock was crushed in early August after the company reported second-quarter earnings, and it hasn't yet fully recovered.

Cramer said that many investors who caught the run in Tekelec stock when it rose from about $11 to $19 have since booked their profits. He said this was a mistake, citing what he believes are the company's strong fundamentals.

In the second quarter, Tekelec beat expectations, earning $9.8 million, or 14 cents a share, but issued full-year guidance that seemed to disappoint investors slightly. Tekelec said it expects to earn 90 cents to 95 cents a share for the full year, while analysts were calling for 94 cents a share.