Qualcomm Upgraded To Buy From Neutral At Nomura Instinet

Nomura Instinet analyst Romit Shah upgraded Qualcomm (QCOM) to Buy and raised his price target for the shares to $75 from $58. The chipmaker closed Friday down 5c to $65.38.

With Broadcom’s (AVGO) hostile takeover attempt now analogous to a “gun to the head,” Qualcomm management is likely to more aggressively focus on driving shareholder value in order to remain a standalone franchise, Shah tells investors in a research note. He believes potential drivers include closing the NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) acquisition and settling the legal dispute with Apple (AAPL). He sees these catalysts played out over the next two quarters.