Bernstein Research analyst Stacy Rasgon dashed off a note Tuesday that upgraded Qualcomm saying that it is set to outperform.

Rasgon wrote: “Our analysis suggests that (even for a company undergoing structural headwinds) the current share price seemingly implies overly-pessimistic scenarios.”

This might sound like faint praise but coming from Rasgon who for the last 18 months has been negative on Qualcomm, it is outright enthusiastic.

Last year was pretty pants for the chipmaker. It lost Samsung as a customer for its S6 flagship phones, had difficulty collecting licensing royalties China, dealt with rumours that its top-of-the-line chips were overheating and had to see off an attempt to turn it into a patent troll outfit.

Rasgon wasn’t happy with Qualcomm’s response to the worsening situation claiming that Steve Mollenkopf and the entire management delayed the recognition of structural shifts in the market. They got "fat, dumb and happy."

Rasgon explained ithat part of the reason for upgrading his estimate was that he felt more comfortable with the outlook around Qualcomm’s licensing business.

While licensing royalties consist of only about a third of Qualcomm’s overall revenues that business provides the company with about two-thirds of its profit.