UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Upgrades Acme Packet to Buy on Voice-Over LTE Rollout

Stifel Nicolaus raised its rating on Acme Packet

from Hold to Buy and established a $27 price target. Stifel Nicolaus noted, "We are upgrading Acme Packet to a Buy with a $27 price target based on our view that carriers are starting to firm up timing of Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) projects. Timing for tier 1 rollouts in the US seems to be converging on 2H 2013, which suggest that Acme Packet could see orders starting in 1H 2013. In the U.S., the first wave of VoLTE deployments has begun with MetroPCS' network which has 97%+ LTE coverage. We believe that Verizon is likely to roll out VoLTE in 3Q/4Q 2013. Our focus on the upgrade is AT&T - our checks show that AT&T is likely to start deploying gear for VoLTE in the very near-future with a “production network” expected to be up and running in mid-2013, with a consumer rollout in 2H 2013." Acme Packet closed at $21.38 on Thursday.