Qualcomm earnings: Delivers but worries remain

Last night Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) gave the Street much more than it had expected. For the quarter, the company earned 55 cents per share (excluding its investment arm) compared with estimates of 51 cents per share. Revenues also came in above consensus -- $2.33 billion versus $2.26 billion.

Qualcomm also managed to increase expectations or average selling price of mobile phones for 2007 fiscal year ending in September from $208 to $216.

However, Wall Street still isn't completely sure about the stock's prospects, primarily due to patent litigation risks. For example, this quarter the company paid almost $20 million to Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM). Qualcom shares are trading down today in active trading.

The stock's valuation looks fairly in-line with comps -- cheaper than Motorola (NASDAQ: MOT) but more expensive than Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO). Although the handset markets are very healthy, Qualcomm remains a rather risky play due to the litigation risk, as aforementioned.

All in all, Qualcomm's quarter was certainly nothing to scoff at. If litigation issues aren't raised this quarter, the stock will most likely be higher in coming months simply due to strength in its handset business as the overall fundamentals for that sector are very strong.