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National Semiconductor (NSM) shares are trading higher this morning after the stock was added to Citigroup’s Top Picks Live list. Analyst Terrence Whalen has a price target on the stock of $20, well ahead of yesterday’s close at $13.81.

Whalen writes that downside appears limited, given higher exposure to the industrial segment and improving handset activity. He asserts that at 10x calendar 2010 free cash flow, the stock appears “mispriced” ahead of the company’s financial results, which are due December 10.

Since April 23rd, 2009 the short base (as measured by percent shares outstanding on loan) for Infineon Technologies (IFX) has steadily risen and hit a new 52 week high last week of 18%. Since hitting this high the short base has dropped but is still considerably higher than ST Microelectronics (STM) (6.68%), Texas Instruments (TXN) (2.62%), Conexant Systems (CNXT) (0.4%) and Zarlink Semiconductor (ZL) (0.12%).

Infineon is due to announce earnings on July 29th.

The bill of materials for the Apple (AAPL) iPhone 3GS is comparable to model it replaced, according to market research firm iSuppli, which conducted a detailed tear-down of the new version of the phone.

According to iSuppli, the cost of materials for the 16 GB version of the iPhone is $172.46, plus another $6.50 in manufacturing costs, for a total production cost of $178.96. The firm notes that this is comparable to its estimate last year that the 8 GB iPhone 3G had a production cost of $174.33. (Note that  both models are priced at $199.)

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Consolidated Edison (ED), Analyst initiations

Infineon (IFX) shares are sharply higher this morning after UBS analyst Nicolas Gaudois raised his rating on the stock to Buy from Neutral, with a new price target of $1.89, up from $1.15. (That’s translated from his new Euro target of 1.4 Euros, up from 0.85 Euros.)