Qualcomm jumps on $1,000 price target

Shares of Qualcomm jumped significantly today after an analyst initiated coverage of the wireless technology firm with a 12-month price target of $1,000 per share.

High-flying shares of Qualcomm jumped more than 30 percent after PaineWebber equities analyst Walter Piecyk started coverage of the firm with a "buy" rating and the lofty target price. Qualcomm has been the best performer on the S&P 500 this year.

Qualcomm shares gained 156 to close at 659, a new 52-week high. Shares have traded as low as 25.31 in the past year.

The company has ridden a wave of interest in wireless technology, as the medium expands to incorporate transmission of Internet data along with more typical voice.

Piecyk, in a research report, said Qualcomm represents an "appropriate way" to invest in the growth of wireless voice and data.

Qualcomm is the primary proponent of CDMA technology, or code division multiple access. Piecyk predicts the technology will be in 85 percent of wireless phones by the end of the next decade, up from 18 percent today.

Qualcomm collects royalties from any company that incorporates CDMA technology into its phones or other wireless devices.

The PaineWebber analyst said Qualcomm should be "a primary beneficiary of the convergence of wireless and data."

The company announced a 4-for-1 stock split last month that takes effect at the end of December of this year.