Correction: Qualcomm surges on 4Q report

A previous version of this story reported that Qualcomm was expecting a loss for the first quarter of 2001. In fact, it is expecting a profit. A corrected version follows. ZDNet Inter@ctive Investor regrets the error.

Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) surged 16 percent Friday morning after beating analysts' estimates when surging licensing revenues made up for lower cell phone sales in South Korea.

Qualcomm topped analysts' estimates in its fourth quarter Thursday, earning $200.8 million, or 25 cents a share, on sales of $635 million.

Shares were up 10.06 to 72.88.

Qualcomm also said it is comfortable with consensus estimates of a 28 cent per share for the fiscal first quarter and a $1.29 per share for fiscal 2001.

Analysts reacted positively to the results. Mark A. Roberts at First Union Securities Inc., who has a target price of $90 on the stock, reiterated a "strong buy" rating.

Analyst M. Hoffman at Wit Soundview said that since his firm's estimates were at the high end of the range on the Street, they were unimpressed with results. However, he now "expect(s) a mostly positive reaction to the company's step over a lowered bar."

"We are adjusting our 2001 model to reflect lower revenue from Globalstar and weaker chipset sales early in the year," Hoffman added in a statement.