PARIS, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Alcatel-Lucent shares jumped 13 percent on Wednesday as traders cited market talk of a possible bid for the Franco-American company by a Chinese manufacturer of telecom gear and a rating upgrade by Natixis analysts.
An Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman declined to comment on the share price move.
Alcatel-Lucent has been struggling to turn a profit since its creation in a merger in 2006 that was supposed to help it cut costs and better compete with the new generation of Chinese gear makers including Huawei and ZTE, which have a much lower cost structure.
A Chinese bid for Alcatel-Lucent could run into regulatory problems because of its role via Bell Labs as a government and military contractor in the United States.
Natixis raised its rating on Alcatel-Lucent to 'buy' from 'reduce' and increased its price target to 3 euros per share from 1.80 euros.
(Reporting by Leila Abboud and Dominic Lau; Editing by James Regan) Keywords: ALCATELLUCENT/ (james.regan@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 53 84; Reuters Messaging: james.regan.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
An Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman declined to comment on the share price move.
Alcatel-Lucent has been struggling to turn a profit since its creation in a merger in 2006 that was supposed to help it cut costs and better compete with the new generation of Chinese gear makers including Huawei and ZTE, which have a much lower cost structure.
A Chinese bid for Alcatel-Lucent could run into regulatory problems because of its role via Bell Labs as a government and military contractor in the United States.
Natixis raised its rating on Alcatel-Lucent to 'buy' from 'reduce' and increased its price target to 3 euros per share from 1.80 euros.
(Reporting by Leila Abboud and Dominic Lau; Editing by James Regan) Keywords: ALCATELLUCENT/ (james.regan@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 53 84; Reuters Messaging: james.regan.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.