A Palliative for Palm
Today brought with it some much needed good news for Palm: A contrarian upgrade on its shares from research outfit BMO Capital. In a note to clients this morning, analyst Tim Long upgraded his rating on Palm to market perform from underperform, though he maintained a $4 target on the stock.
Why?
After the vicious beating the market has given Palm (PALM) these past few months, the company’s stock–down a gruesome 75 percent since October–already well reflects its woes and the challenges it faces. And it’s still conceivable that the company may end up an acquisition target. So there’s that as well.
“We continue to view Palm as one of the share losers in the high-growth Smartphone segment,” Long wrote. “In our view, the company is too small to compete and the internally developed WebOS operating system is no longer a major differentiator. The end game for Palm is most likely to combine with a large OEM that wants to own its operating system and can leverage its brand and distribution platform.”
FURTHER READING:
- Good Luck Competing on the iPhone’s Home Turf, Palm
- Exercise in Futility? Palm Pre Plus, Pixi Plus Headed to AT&T
- Palm: Pssst. Wanna Buy 1.15 Million Smartphones?
- Palm Pileup: Weak Smartphone Sales and a Gruesome Q4 Forecast
- Could Be Worse, Could Be Raining: Palm’s AT&T Launch Delayed?
- Could WebOS Licensing Be Palm’s Salvation?
- Palm’s Salvation? Less Push, More Pull.
- And if Palm’s Project JumpStart Doesn’t Work Out, There’s Always “Project Defibrillator”
- Double Face-Palm: Analysts React to Palm’s Lowered Guidance
- Time to Start Looking for a Buyer, Palm?
- 2010: Year of the Palm? Maybe Not…
- Analyst: Palm May Be Acquired in the Next Two Years
