Activist Barry Rosenstein Has QUALCOMM, Inc. (QCOM) Considering Breakup

It should be noted, however, that should QUALCOMM split its QCT and QTL units, the move goes against the general consolidation in the semiconductor industry this year. The Wall Street Journal notes that NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) inked an $11.8-billion deal to buy Freescale Semiconductor Ltd (NYSE:FSL) in March. Avago Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:AVGO) agreed to buy Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM) for $37 billion in May, and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) confirmed in June that it will buy Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) for $16.7 billion. According to the publication, analysts at Arete Research Services LLP estimate QUALCOMM’s QCT business to be valued at about $74 billion, while the QTL business is worth $87 billion.

Among the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 64 held long positions in QUALCOMM by March 31, up from 61 at the end of the previous quarter. More importantly, the aggregate value of the holdings of those funds who held long stakes in the chipmaker by the end of the first quarter jumped by 55.40% compared to the previous quarter, to $6.81 billion. This is a massive jump considering the stock actually declined in value by 6.71% from January 2 to March 31. The massive jump in holdings is largely because of the involvement of JANA partners, which bought about 28.54 million shares of QUALCOMM in the first quarter. The stake was valued at about $1.98 billion and makes up a considerable 11.48% of JANA Partners’ entire portfolio. Orbis Investment Management, led by William B. Gray, held the second-largest holding in QUALCOMM in our database on March 31, valued at $773.8 million held in about 11.16 million shares. Of note is Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Asset Management, which also initiated a $106.6 million position during the first quarter, buying 1.54 million shares.

Disclosure: None