UPDATE: Brean Capital Upgrades Youku Tudou to Buy, Names $36 PT on Mobile Tailwind with Improving Operating Leverage Ahead

In a report published Monday, Brean Capital analyst Fawne Jiang upgraded the rating on Youku Tudou YOKU from Hold to Buy, and named a $36.00 price target. In the report, Brean Capital noted, “We upgrade YOKU to a Buy rating with a price target of $36. We are positive on the company as we believe YOKU is well positioned in 2014 with a strong operating leverage story. In addition, mobile could potentially offer an additional tailwind for the company as YOKU steps up its mobile monetization in 2014, which should help on both its revenue growth and further margin improvement. As such, we upgrade YOKU to a Buy rating with a PT of $36, implying 30x of our 2015 Non-GAAP EPS estimate of $1.09 (with $3.28 net cash/per share).” Youku Tudou closed on Friday at $25.86.