By Sam Boughedda
Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares remain inexpensive, and the set-up into 2024 looks good, according to Bernstein analysts.
The analysts maintained an Outperform rating and $140 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday previewing the company's fiscal first quarter 2023.
"The smartphone industry remains very weak with shipments down 18% YoY in Dec-Q, and down 1% sequentially in what is typically a stronger sequential quarter," stated the analysts.
However, they said it "is somewhat challenging" to read through incremental weakness to Qualcomm, given they are "in the midst of an inventory correction" in a quarter where AAPL shipments rose 40% sequentially.
The analysts argued that even amid a horrid smartphone cycle, there is some "better news peppered in (Samsung share gains, a stickier AAPL, and an increasingly credible adjacency story)," and they believe and hope that eventually, smartphones can turn around, or at least find a bottom.
"The shares remain very inexpensive and set-up into 2024 looks good as things normalize and AAPL business hangs around," concluded the analysts.