Analysts Duel over Alcatel-Lucent Turnaround as Stock Seeks New 52-Week High

• BofA/Merrill Lynch has raised its rating to Buy from a rating of Neutral.
• Nataxis has maintained a Buy rating and raised the target to 1.90 euro from 1.50 euro.
• UBS upgraded Alcatel-Lucent from Sell to a still-cautious Neutral rating.
• BNP Paribas decided that Lucent’s share price rise was enough already, and it decided to downgrade the tech and communications equipment player to Underperform from an already cautious Neutral rating.
• CNBC featured CEO Michel Combes discussing how this restructuring plan is different from his predecessor’s realignments.

The company even named its restructuring “The Shift Plan” to concentrate on more of the advanced communications in Internet networking and ultra-broadband for mobile and terrestrial communications systems. A debt refinancing also has given the company a better outlook on its long-term cash management plan.

Shares were up 6% at one point on Wednesday, and the ADRs trading in New York closed up more than 3% to $1.93, against a 52-week trading range of $0.91 to $2.01. That high was put in on Wednesday. Now shares are indicated up another 3% at $1.99 in New York ADRs trading.

On the local exchange in Paris, Alcatel-Lucent shares hit a new 52-week high of 1.53 euro on Thursday. A horse race is happening here, and the question is whether you can trust that this time is different for a company where nothing seems to have gone well in a decade.