Nokia: Credit Suisse Turns Bullish; Raises Rating, Target

Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha this morning turned bullish on Nokia (NOK) , raising his rating on the handset maker to Outperform from Neutral, and increasing his price target to 12 Euros, from 9 Euros. (Or in greenbacks, that’s $16.35, up from $12.26.) Garcha continues to look for 2009 EPS of 54 Euro cents a share, but ups his 2010 EPS estimate by 17% to 1 Euro. While conceding that the first half 2009 fundamentals “remain challenging,” he contends volume, revenue, margin and valuation will rebound in the second half. Garcha forecasts a 13% drop in global industry wide handset sell-in units in 2009, to 1.08 billion units, but he sees a 15% rebound in 2010, driven by a stronger replacement cycle and the absence of inventory depletion. NOK today is up 23 cents, or 1.9%, to $12.07. (link)