HTC may have turned a corner with its latest flagship smartphone and its worst days could be behind it. Alvin Kwock of J.P. Morgan Securities believes the HTC One is the company’s “last chance for a turnaround,” adding that improved supply will help the struggling smartphone vendor see a sharp rise in revenues this quarter. The analyst upgraded shares of HTC’s stock to Neutral from Underweight and more than doubled his original price target of NT$160 ($5.35) to NT$330 ($11), citing strong anticipated sales of the new smartphone.
“We have previously said that the new ‘One’ is HTC’s last chance for a turnaround — we now think HTC has done enough to at least see a mini-turnaround,” Kwock wrote in a note to investors, according to Focus Taiwan.
The analyst said that recent supply chain checks have suggested that HTC’s supply issues have “significantly improved in the last two weeks” and because of that, the company’s second-quarter revenue could increase more than 50% from last quarter. Monthly shipments of the HTC One are expected to grow from 300,000 units in March to 1.2 million units in April and more than 2 million units by May.
Kwock warned that HTC must still battle Samsung and the impending release of the Galaxy S4, however.
