Ahead of the Bell: Xilinx
Xilinx shares get a boost from upgrade, predictions of better-than-average growth
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Xilinx Inc. jumped before Friday's opening bell after a Citi analyst upgraded the stock to "Buy," saying he's optimistic that the chip maker is poised for significant growth.
Glen Yeung, who also boosted his price target by $10 to $50, said the San Jose, Calif.-based company should get a big boost from an upcoming buildup in Chinese wireless infrastructure.
Yeung said it appears that China's development of high-speed LTE wireless phone service is now on the fast-track. He noted that when 3G service was on the rise in China a few years ago, makers of programmable logic devices used in communication systems like Xilinx did much better than their overall industry.
"Given the greater magnitude of this next LTE build-out, we forecast that the same may occur now," Yeung wrote in a note to investors.
In premarket trading, shares of Xilinx rose 75 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $42.60 after trading as high as $45.61 earlier. If the gains held at the premarket high, it would mark the company's highest stock price in more than a decade. Over the past year, Xilinx shares have gained about 31 percent.
