NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Qualcomm (QCOM) - Get Report shares are up 1.3% to $73.65 in early market trading on Tuesday after the digital communications products and services provider approved a $15 billion stock buyback and upped its quarterly dividend after the closing bell yesterday.

The San Diego-based company said that it plans to buy back up to $10 billion of its stock over the next 12 months with repurchases beginning in its fiscal third quarter. The new buyback replaces the company's previous program which had $2.1 billion remaining.

The company previously raised its dividend in March 2014 to $7.8 billion from $2.8 billion.

In addition to buyback the company also announced that its board increased its quarterly dividend by 14% to 48 cents per share payable March 25. The announcements are part of the company's plan return at least 75% of its free cash flow to shareholders annually, the company said.

TheStreet's Jim Cramer, Portfolio Manager of the Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio believes that Qualcomm is well positioned to repurchase shares without hurting growth, stating, "When you have no factories - unlike, say Intel (INTC) - Get Report - you have a lot of cash. This is an intellectual property play and 12% of the stock outstanding can be bought without hurting the growth."

TheStreet Ratings team rates QUALCOMM INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate QUALCOMM INC (QCOM) a BUY. This is driven by several positive factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, notable return on equity, impressive record of earnings per share growth and expanding profit margins. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• QCOM's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 0.2%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 7.2%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• QCOM has no debt to speak of therefore resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of zero, which we consider to be a relatively favorable sign. Along with this, the company maintains a quick ratio of 3.13, which clearly demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs.
• The return on equity has improved slightly when compared to the same quarter one year prior. This can be construed as a modest strength in the organization. In comparison to the other companies in the Communications Equipment industry and the overall market, QUALCOMM INC's return on equity significantly exceeds that of the industry average and is above that of the S&P 500.
• QUALCOMM INC has improved earnings per share by 39.3% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, QUALCOMM INC increased its bottom line by earning $4.40 versus $3.91 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($4.97 versus $4.40).
• The gross profit margin for QUALCOMM INC is rather high; currently it is at 62.07%. Regardless of QCOM's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, QCOM's net profit margin of 27.77% compares favorably to the industry average.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: QCOM Ratings Report