UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Downgrades Glu Mobile to Neutral, Lowers PT

In a report published Friday, Piper Jaffray & Co. downgraded its rating on Glu Mobile

from Overweight to Neutral, and lowered its price target from $6.00 to $3.50. Piper Jaffray noted, “GLUU reported largely in line with its preannouncement, but guided 4Q12 below its previous range and Street consensus. The lowered guidance was primarily due to lower than expected monetization rates of 3Q new releases, as well as catalog titles, which drove the company to push 5 expected 4Q releases into 1Q13 so monetization techniques can be assessed and potentially restructured. While our fundamental long-term view of the company remains positive and we believe the company is taking the right steps to more effectively put out a continually strong release slate of highly monetizable games, we take a "wait-and-see" approach during this transition period and are lowering our rating to Neutral. Our target multiple goes from 3x FY13 Rev to 2x FY13 Rev, more in-line with ZNGA's current multiple, which we see as reasonable given the similar challenges in monetization and pipeline facing each company.” Glu Mobile closed on Thursday at $3.26.