UPDATE: Citigroup Assumes Coverage on Qualcomm, Upgrades on Riding the LTE Wave Forward

In a report published Wednesday, Citigroup analyst Ehud Gelblum assumes coverage on Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), upgraded the rating from Neutral to Buy, and raised the price target from $70.00 to $88.00.

In the report, Citigroup noted, “Assuming coverage of QCOM with a Buy and $88 PT based on a sum-of-parts of its two main businesses equal to a 17x P/E on our CY'14 EPS est. Despite worries over saturation of high end smartphones, we believe the impending LTE launch at China Mobile, where QCOM has no share, should drive QCT volume / margin in H2'FY14 with minimal negative impact to QTL. We believe as complexity of LTE accelerates with new tech in standards, QCOM's R&D and head start puts more distance between itself and comps.”

Qualcomm closed on Tuesday at $73.38.