Oppenheimer Maintains OP Rating On QCOM

Oppenheimer remains bullish on Qualcomm QCOM long term, “but expect the company to potentially see near-term pressure on royalties and MSM shipments due to the tragedy in Japan and industry seasonality.” “We're cutting our estimates accordingly and could still see further cuts if handset OEMs are materially disrupted,” Oppenheimer writes. “With that said, Qualcomm has several catalysts lined up including the pending Atheros addition (accretive to FY12) and a good chance of share gains at Apple AAPL and Nokia NOK that could provide upside to our new estimates. “Thus, despite the potential for NT disruption, we'd add to long-term positions on the macro weakness—maintain Outperform.” Qualcomm closed Thursday $53.72.