UPDATE 1-RESEARCH ALERT-BofA upgrades U.S. semiconductor sector

(Recasts, changes source; adds details)

April 10 (Reuters) - Banc of America Securities upgraded
the U.S. semiconductor sector to "overweight" from "market
weight," and said the modest inventory buildup has now worked
its way through both company fundamentals and Wall Street
expectations.

The brokerage said the reduction in the pace of downward
estimate revisions for the semiconductor companies is signaling
that the bottom is near.

"While larger issues such as the fate of the US economy in
2008 clearly continue to test investor confidence in the
sector, our analysis suggest the fears are worse than the
reality," analyst Sumit Dhanda said in a research note.

The brokerage changed its ratings and price targets on the
following companies. CO. NAME
RATING
PRICE TARGET

CURRENT PRIOR
CURRENT PRIOR Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Buy

Neutral $27 $21.50 Power Integrations
Inc (POWI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Buy Neutral $36
$28.50 Semtech Corp (SMTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Buy Neutral

$19 $15 Analog Devices Inc (ADI.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
Buy Neutral $38 $33 PMC-Sierra Inc
(PMCS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Neutral Sell $6.50
$5.50 National Semiconductor Corp (NSM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Neutral Sell

$21 $16 LSI Corp (LSI.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
Neutral Sell $5 $4 Altera Corp
(ALTR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Buy Buy $25
$23 Atheros Communications Inc (ATHR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Buy Buy

$38 $40 Broadcom Corp (BRCM.O: Quote, Profile, Research)
Buy Buy $29 $33 Fairchild
Semiconductor International Inc (FCS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Neutral
Neutral $14 $15 Intersil Corp (ISIL.O: Quote, Profile, Research)

Buy Buy $34 $31 Linear
Technology Corp (LLTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Buy Buy $39

$35 Micrel Inc (MCRL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Neutral
Neutral $9 $7 Marvell Technology Group
(MRVL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Neutral Neutral $14.50 $13 Texas
Instruments Inc (TXN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Neutral Neutral $35

$34 Xilinx Inc (XLNX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Buy
Buy $31 $30
(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak
Kannan)