Why 4 of Last Night’s Biggest Losers Are Still Struggling in the Light of Day

Shares of QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) have tumbled by 13.87% today, extending their year-to-date losses to over 30%. Activist investor Barry Rosenstein, who has urged the company to split its chip and patent-licensing businesses, and who in a recent investor letter expressed optimism regarding QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s position in the semiconductor industry, may be disappointed with the company’s fiscal fourth quarter 2015 results revealed yesterday. While Qualcomm’s fiscal fourth quarter results beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines, its guidance for the first quarter of fiscal year 2016 was weak, partially due to unresolved licensing agreements with two major customers in China. Nonetheless, Qualcomm has expressed that demand for its Snapdragon mobile chips has been stronger than expected, and it’s been reported that Samsung will likely return to using Snapdragon processors for its Galaxy smartphones with next year’s S7. As such, the selling today is likely overdone and the weak first quarter guidance only a temporary blip. With the involvement of an activist like Rosenstein pushing the envelope and with the stock trading at a forward P/E of just 10.03 and with a dividend yield of 3.70%, shares look pretty attractive at the moment.

Lastly, Axcelis Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:ACLS) is down by 24.18% today after the equipment provider for chipmakers released weak guidance of its own for the fourth quarter. The Beverly-based firm (that’s Massachusetts, not Hills), guided for $60 million-to-$65 million in earnings for the fourth quarter, while analysts had been projecting slightly more than $70 million. As with Qualcomm, Axcelis did top estimates for the third quarter on both the top and bottom lines, pulling in $79.32 million in revenue and income of $0.05 per share. The company believes it is well positioned to come out of the current weakness in the DRAM segment stronger-than-ever, and ready to capitalize on the next wave of growth in the industry when the times comes. Richard Mashaal‘s RIMA Senvest is a big believer in Axcelis Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:ACLS), holding slightly over 6.0 million shares of the stock on June 30.

Disclosure: None