Qualcomm (QCOM)

Likes that smart phones are clearly growing. But she doesn’t like how fickle consumers are. It is so hard to predict which one will be successful but with Qualcom you don’t have to do this. They have a good pipeline on their chip line with good royalty revenue. Dividend should grow faster than earnings. Buy backs also.

Smart phone growth is projected to be 16% annually through the end of the decade. Their LTE chip has about 97% market share, so they are in good shape. Have gone from being the 8^th or 9^th chipset producer a few years ago and are now number 3. It tends not to get the credit that it should. Trading at about 15X next years earnings. Its growth is not only fairly robust, but is quite predictable.

(A Top Pick July 12/13. Up 13.3%.) A way to access the mobile phone market without having to choose a winner. He doesn’t really want to own the handset makers. Great balance sheet. Solid management team of scientists.

(A Top Pick Nov 19/12. Up 13.54%.) Still feels good about it. Lagged some of the other larger tech companies, but is still the leader in terms of providing the wireless and mobile market with LTE 4G technology chips. They still dominate substantially in terms of market share. They not only generate chip revenues, but also licensing revenues. Excellent margins in this business. He would consider buying in the low or mid $60s.

Dominant technology for cell phones. Competitors coming and market is maturing. The key is that their technology will be better for at least a couple of years so he is not worried at this point.

(Top Pick Oct 24/12, Up 21.48%) About 97% of the market share in LTE chips so you don’t have to pick a winner. Every smart phone is to their benefit.

Chipset manufacturer. Has proven to be a good stock for him. The #3 chipset maker globally now and moving up because it controls 95% of the market in LTE chips. Not expensive.

Almost made it a top pick today. Likes it a lot. Great management, Superb balance sheet. Beat estimates last quarter. All about mobile phones. $67.30 area support. Preferred way to play the sector.

Growing at a rate faster than the market. They make a lot of revenue on both the licensing and chip side. They have a lot of room to grow, staying ahead of the curve in technology. Hold if you already own it.

(Market Call Minute) If you want to play high end smart phones, do it through Apple.

Good value here. Trading at around 14-15 times earnings. Well-positioned in the continuing growth of the smart phone market. Owns some great patents. Gets their pound of flesh every time a phone is sold.

Mobile phone & smart phone industry. 90% operating margin on royalty income on wireless. Make chips to run phones. Commoditization of smart phones would impact them 1% only.

Manufactures chips for communication products. PE is reasonable at 14.5X but near-term growth for 2013 is okay at 11% but going up in 2014. Earnings growth is pretty modest. Doesn’t see a lot of huge near-term catalysts. Dividend yield of 2.1%.

There had been a little bit of concern on average selling prices and where their margins were heading, but she still feels pretty comfortable with this. Trading at about 13.5X earnings. Earnings growth has been about 20% this year. Thinks there are a lot of opportunities on their chipset business because they make so much money off the royalty side. You have to keep a pretty close eye on this one.

Is this company losing market share in the smart phone/tablet industry to its competitors? Actually they are picking up steam and picking up market share. In 2010, it ranked 9^th, 2011 ranked 6^th and now it is 3^rd in terms of total chipset volume and he would expect this to continue because they basically own the LTE chip space with 97% of the volume. Reasonably priced at about 15X earnings. They make $2 for every smart phone sold.