UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Downgrades QUALCOMM to Neutral, Lowers PT on Falling High-End Smartphone Demand

In a report published Monday, Piper Jaffray analyst Auguste Gus Richard downgraded the rating on

from Overweight to Neutral, and lowered the price target from $71.00 to $67.00. In the report, Piper Jaffray noted, “This earnings season several companies indicated they are seeing weak demand for high-end smartphone components. Moreover, our recent checks with foundry contacts now indicate they are seeing cancellations for components used in high-end smartphones by component vendors. These cancellations have gained momentum over the last several weeks. At the same time, MediaTek, the low-end Chinese OEM supplier, announced unit cell phone chipset shipments that were up 49% Q/Q and guided units up roughly 20% Q/Q. We believe these datapoints point to an accelerating mix shift to the low-end that we believe will impact QCOM's royalty stream. Our below-consensus FY14 estimates anticipate this shift. Due to deteriorating fundamentals, we trim our PT multiple to 15x from 16x, lowering our PT from $71 to $67 and move to Neutral.” QUALCOMM closed on Friday at $66.75.