Brightpoint Shares Climb After Citi Upgrade

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Brightpoint Inc. got a boost Tuesday after an upgrade from a Citi Investment Research analyst upgraded the cell phone distributor and said it should benefit from a cyclical recovery in the handset market.

Analyst Jim Suva upgraded Brightpoint to "Buy" from "Hold," with a target price of $9, up from $6.50. The analyst said the company should benefit from a higher multiple going forward, given its leading position in handset distribution, increasing focus on smart phones and higher margin logistics, as well as a potential leverage to recovery in Europe, which made up more than half of 2008 revenues.

A multiple is the share price divided by the expected earnings per share for the year. The higher the multiple, the more earnings growth investors are expecting.

Shares of Indianapolis-based Brightpoint rose 22 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $6.62 in midday trading. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $2.87 and $8.90.