RESEARCH ALERT-BNP Paribas upgrades Acer to "buy"

TAIPEI, Aug 25 - BNP Paribas on Tuesday upgraded the world's No.3 PC brand Acer <2353.TW> to "buy" from "hold", saying it expects the company to gain market share, helping propel its shares to a 22-month high.

At 0231 GMT, Acer shares were up 1.43 percent at T$71, its highest intraday level since Nov. 1, 2007, and outperforming a 0.36 percent decline on the benchmark TAIEX share index <.TWII>.

"Despite a tough economy, Acer's product strategy enables it to continue to gain market share with second-quarter PC shipment growth of 23.7 percent year on year against an average industry decline of 3 percent year on year," BNP Paribas wrote in a research note.

Analyst Patty Liu raised the target share price to T$83 from T$57 previously, saying that the company was still expanding and they expected it to be the world's top notebook PC supplier within two to three years.

Acer is currently the world's second-largest notebook PC brand, but leads the highly successful low-cost netbook PC segment that was pioneered by its smaller cross-town rival Asustek <2357.TW> in 2007.

It ranks behind bigger rivals HP and Dell , but stands ahead of Lenovo <0992.HK> and Toshiba <6502.T>.

Acer's shares have climbed more than 68 percent this year, outperforming a 50 percent advance on the main board. It is due to report its second-quarter earnings this week.