ComScore: Needham Upgrades To Buy

Needham analyst Mark May today raised his rating on ComScore (SCOR) to Buy from Hold, setting a price target of $20. The stock last week finished at $17.01.

“ComScore has made important product strides in recent months that address concerns we’ve had in the past,” he writes in an intra-day research note. He notes that the company May launched Media Metrix 360, a panel-centric hybrid approach to audience measurement; today, he adds, the company launched a new partnership with Omniture that he says should speed the 360 offering to market by easing implementation for Omniture’s customers. “This new product and partnership not only give us confidence in our financial forecasts but make us believe there could be more upside,” he writes.

May upped his 2009 EPS estimate to 68 cents, from 67 cents. For 2010, he goes to 83 cents, from 75 cents.

SCOR today is up 56 cents, or 3.3%, to $17.57.