Financial ratings wrap-up: Ceragon, Ericsson, Sprint Nextel and more

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.
Carrier
–Credit Suisse First Boston raised its rating on Sprint Nextel to outperform from neutral and bumped its price target to $21 from $20, saying it sees limited downside from current levels and that it believes the company offers a good risk/reward opportunity. New EPS estimates on the company are 82 cents rather than 80 cents for 2008.
Handset and infrastructure vendors
–Lehman Brothers lowered its rating on L.M. Ericsson to equal weight from overweight and lowered its price target to $32 from $44. The firm also lowered its estimates on the company to $2.03 from $2.51 for 2007 and to $2.14 from $2.76 for 2008. Lehman said it does not expect a major improvement in the mobile systems market until at least the second half of 2008 and that it considers Ericsson to be fairly valued at current levels.
–Lehman Brothers raised its price target on Nokia to $41 from $38 and upped its estimates to $1.90 from $1.76 for 2007 and to $2.34 from $2.20 for 2008. The firm noted it believes the company’s margin improvements are sustainable.
Other
–Credit Suisse First Boston downgraded Texas Instruments to neutral from outperform and lowered its price target to $35 from $45 after the company reported in-line third-quarter results but offered fourth-quarter guidance below expectations.
–RBC Capital Markets raised its price target on Ceragon Networks to $18 from $16, saying it believes the company will report solid third-quarter results. The firm also raised its estimates on Ceragon to 46 cents from 45 cents for 2007 and to 68 cents from 62 cents for 2008. RBC Capital Markets raised its price target on the company to $22 from $18.
— Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services affirmed its ratings on CommScope Inc. and Andrew Corp. and removed them from CreditWatch, where they were placed in June with negative implications. The company said its ratings on Andrew will be withdrawn following its acquisition and debt refinancing. The outlook is stable.
–Lehman Brothers lowered its estimates on UTStarcom Inc., saying visibility into growth and profitability remain weak but that the company is well positioned for early IP-TV deployments in China. The company dropped its 2007 EPS estimate on the company to a loss of $1.74 from its previous estimate of a loss of $1.38.