UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Upgrades Intel, Raises PT on Modest Outlook

In a report published Monday, Piper Jaffray analyst Auguste Gus Richard upgraded the rating on Intel Corporation INTC from Underweight to Neutral, and raised the price target from $20.00 to $22.00. In the report, Piper Jaffray noted, “The chip industry is now solidly in the post-PC era, but PCs are not going away anytime soon. We expect a modest corporate refresh cycle driven by the end of support for Windows XP in April 2014 coupled with the release of Windows 8.1 in Q4. In addition, with the 2H13 launch of Bay Trail, Intel now has a low-end processor for tablets with good enough performance for consumers. While this is likely to cannibalize sales of some notebooks, it would replace low-end consumer notebooks not high-end corporate machines. We lift our CY14 estimates slightly and expect 2014 revenue to grow in the mid-single digits after two years of decline. IDF and analyst day could be catalysts for shares. We still see LT strategic issues for the company but with a 4.1% dividend yield, we believe further downside is limited and move to Neutral with a $22 PT.” Intel Corporation closed on Friday at $21.92.