Company Update (NASDAQ:QCOM): Apple: Qualcomm Remarks on Premium Smartphones Weigh, JP Morgan Defends

[at Barrons.com] – Shares of Apple (AAPL) are down $1.24, or 1%, at $105.89, following a report from wireless chip giant Qualcomm (QCOM), a prominent supplier to Apple for the iPhone, last night said that it sees rising pressure in top-tier, or “premium,” smartphones. The Qualcomm remarks add to a growing tied of concern about the June quarter that was kicked off by Nikkei News Service last Friday. Apple is set to report fiscal Q2 results this coming Tuesday, April 26th. Read more on this. QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) , with a current value of $77.24B, started trading this morning at $51.30. Today’s price range has been between $50.74 and $51.80 per share with its 52-week range being $42.24 to $71.32. Priced at 12.67x this year’s forecasted earnings, QCOM shares are relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 14.04x forward p/e ratio. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $2.12 per share annually in dividends, yielding 4.09%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 25 sell-side analysts are looking at $1.02 per share, which would be $0.03 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.04 sequential decrease. What we find to be interesting is that the full-year EPS estimate of $4.11 is a $0.55 worse when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $5.56 Billion. If reported, that would be a 4.63% decrease over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Rosenblatt downgraded QCOM from Buy to Neutral (Apr 21, 2016). Previously, Barclays downgraded QCOM from Overweight to Equal Weight. Investors should keep in mind is that the average price target is $56.36, which is 9.86% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:QCOM) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) – Will Qualcomm Lose Out on Apple’s iPhone? (QCOM, AAPL) Company Update: Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) – Has Qualcomm Become a Value Stock? (QCOM) Market Update: Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) – Here’s Why Qualcomm (QCOM) Stock is Down Today