UPDATE: Citigroup Initiates Youku Tudouat Buy; Merger with Tudou Strengthens Lead

Citigroup initiated its coverage on Youku Tudou

with a Buy rating and a price target of $36 a share. Citigroup said, "We initiate coverage of Youku with a Buy rating and TP of US$36, positioned as one of our top picks with Tencent and Qihoo. Through its merger with Tudou, Youku has strengthened its No.1 position in video content and user traffic, making it one of the top 10 “TV networks” in China and poised to take more of the Rmb200b TV ads market share to online media platforms." Youku Tudou closed at $17.85 on Tuesday.