QUALCOMM, Inc. (QCOM), Broadcom Corporation (BRCM) & Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN): Smartphone Decline Be Darned

The hedge fund trade

Going into 2013, QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), by far, had the most hedge fund interest. There were a total of 89 hedge funds long the stock. This includes the top position holder, Viking Global, with a $708 million position in the stock and comprising 4.9% of its 13F portfolio (check out Viking’s high upside picks).

Don’t be fooled

QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) saw a nice pullback last week, potentially providing investors with a great entry opportunity. The company pays investors a 2.2% dividend yield and is stellar at generating returns for shareholders. Qualcomm’s return on investment is upwards of 17.7%, compared to Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN)’ 10.8% and Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM)’s 8.9%.

Meanwhile, QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) also has one of the best balance sheets, with nearly no debt; the company’s debt ratio is a mere 0.05%, whereas Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) is 28%, Intel 16% and Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM) 15%. These are all positives for the company and should allow it to better hedge any interim declines in smartphone shipments. And although the smartphone growth might be slowing, it’s still growing robustly, not to mention the fact that Qualcomm has exposure to the lower-end mobile market that’s popular in emerging markets.

The article Smartphone Decline Be Darned originally appeared on Fool.com.

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