UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Raises PT to $41 on Qihoo 360 Technology Following Q4 Beat

Stifel Nicolaus maintained Qihoo 360 Technology QIHU with a Buy rating and raised the price target from $37.00 to $41.00. Stifel Nicolaus noted, "We believe the core online advertising and web game operations can sustain about 40% growth in 2013 fueled by increasing penetration and usage of its core security and browser products. In addition, the search engine opportunity for Qihoo is significant. The company has about 10% search query market share currently with a target market share approaching 40% in the future. We conservatively project that Qihoo will generate $130 million in search revenue in 2013 and $225 million in 2014, although the potential is substantially higher. We believe margins will trough in 1Q13 as the strong investment spending and marketing spending preceded revenue generation." Qihoo 360 Technology closed at $34.82 on Tuesday.