UPDATE: Credit Suisse Upgrades SINA to Outperform, Raises PT

In a report published earlier today, Credit Suisse Group AG upgraded the rating for SINA Corporation

from Neutral to Outperform, along with raising its price target from $70.00 to $76.00. Credit Suisse went on to say “Slow economic growth has led to soft advertising spending. Sina grew faster than peers due to its high end user base and Weibo platform to attract advertisers. In 1Q12, auto ad spend performed the best, whereas IT, Telecom and financial service ad spending were down. Weibo had a 324 mn registered user base at end-March, and daily active user (% of registered users) is 9%. Given daily page views up 27% QoQ, user daily time spent at 1 hour, Weibo showcases healthy growth. Also, users accessing mobile terminals through Weibo account for 60%+ of total users, even higher than PC users. Sina will monetize mobile internet through Weibo and Sina portal.” SINA Corporation closed yesterday at $51.68.