UPDATE: Wedbush Upgrades Polypore International

In a research note released Tuesday, Wedbush upgraded

to Outperform from Neutral and has maintained a twelve month price target of $38. Wedbush analyst Craig Irwin has based the upgrade on "attractive valuation, with downside supported by the non-lithium businesses." Moreover, Irwin believes "the serial missteps and poor execution" of Polypore's management has presented an opportunity for either an activist investor or acquirer to swoop in. His list of possible interested companies includes DOW, 3M and BASF. In addition to this, Irwin cites strong 2013 fourth quarter results in which Polypore beat multiple Wedbush estimates, for example revenue and adjusted EPS were $169.4 million and $0.31 respectively vs. Wedbush estimates of $163.5 million and $0.27. At last check, Polypore was trading up just under ten percent at $32.47.