Phoenix Technologies Shrs Soar On Roth Capital Upgrade

Phoenix Technologies (PTEC) shares are soaring this morning after Roth Capital analyst Nathan Schneiderman upped his rating on the stock to Buy from Hold, asserting that “the bad news is fully in the stock,” and that “the business likely troughed in the March quarter.”

Schneiderman, while conceding that the PTEC story has had “hair” on it, asserts that the recent valuation of the stock does not even reflect the value of the core business, “much less optionality” on newer products. He believes the negative dynamics of weak PC unit shipments and inventory draw-downs should lessen from here, “potentially setting the stage for sequential improvements in core system software revenue as early as the June quarter.”

Also, Schneiderman says that while revenue from new products has been modest, “the trajectory will likely improve over the summer,” and that the company has signed deals with at least three major OEMs for its FailSafe data-protection theft-loss product and its HyperSpace software for rapid booting.

Schneiderman set a price target of $4.50 on the stock.

PTEC today is up 63 cents, or 26.7%, to $2.99.