Rambus Shares Get A Boost As Benchmark Sets New Buy Rating, $16 Target

Shares of Rambus

are trading up more than 2.5 percent Friday afternoon following an earlier bullish note from Benchmark's Gary Mobley. Mobley initiated coverage on Rambus with a Buy rating and $16 price target. The Benchmark analyst believes the company will "continue to forge deeper relationships with leading memory suppliers and system-on-chip companies." Mobley sees Rambus continuing to improve its reputation and shrug off the stigma of "a patent troll." Rambus could eventually move toward a model which is more similar to that of ARM Holding

, according to Mobley. With Rambus shares last trading at $11.50, the Benchmark analyst's new price target represents potential upside of about 39 percent.