Lattice Semiconductor shares get a boost from Morgan Stanley upgrade

Lattice shares jump after Morgan Stanley upgrade

NEW YORK — Shares of Lattice Semiconductor Corp. climbed Monday after Morgan Stanley analyst Mark Lipacis upgraded the chip maker, saying it will likely gain share in the wireless market.

THE SPARK: Lipacis raised his rating to “Equal-weight” from “Underweight” and increased his target price to $6 from $4.

“We now expect Lattice’s mid-range products to take share from the more expensive products of Altera and Xilinx (both ‘Equal-weight’) in the wireless infrastructure market,” the analyst wrote in a note to investors.

THE BIG PICTURE: The overall chip sector traded higher Monday, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector index up 5 points, or 1.4 percent, to 354.16 in afternoon trading.

THE ANALYSIS: Lipacis said Lattice has restructured its business to focus more on profitable, low-cost product lines while phasing out its higher-end products, which “lagged competition.”

“Our analysis indicates the stock is baking in higher estimates, and should trade in line with (competitors),” the analyst wrote.

SHARE ACTION: Shares of the Hillsboro, Ore.-based company rose 29 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $5.41 in afternoon trading. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $1.68 and $5.97.