Qualcomm shares slid Thursday despite the company reporting better-than-expected earnings the day before — and a top semiconductor analyst said there is little to no incentive for investors to buy the stock.
"At best I think it's probably dead money," Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon told CNBC on Thursday.
Rasgon said the company's biggest problem is its legal dispute with Apple, which began with a $1 billion royalty dispute in January.
"It's a massive revision in terms of profits. I don't see that Apple has any incentive to settle at this point. Qualcomm doesn't really seem to be holding any cards," he said on "Fast Money: Halftime Report."
Rasgon rates the stock market perform with a $60-per-share price target — roughly $6 higher than where it traded midafternoon Thursday.
"I mean, if you're buying [Qualcomm] today, you're buying it probably for one of two reasons, either you're expecting a resolution to the licensing dispute sometime soon in a form that does not significantly impair the current business, or you're buying it for the NXP," Rasgon said. (Qualcomm agreed to buy semiconductor company NXP last year, but the deal has yet to close.)
Rasgon admits to being negative on the stock for a while. "Every time I think it's as bad as it can get they keep surprising me," he said.