Palm’s shares jumped to a two-year high based on rumors that Nokia (NYSE: NOK) may be interested in buying the handset maker, Reuters reports. Neither Nokia or Palm (NSDQ: PALM) commented on the rumors.
It is unclear whether the report is based on actual talks, or based on which company analysts believe would make a good suitor. Beyond Nokia, Reuters also lists Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Dell, Cisco (NSDQ: CSCO) and Hewlett-Packard as potential suitors. Palm’s stock jumped to a high of $17.50 today, gaining nearly 10 percent. The stock run up was likely fueled by takeover talks and word that the company was likely to have a successful secondary stock offering. But Palm also has a lot of short-sellers, who are betting that the stock price will decline.
For Nokia in particular, buying Palm may allow it to gain a foothold in the U.S., where it’s faltered, but it wouldn’t be cheap. Analysts claim Palm could sell for more than $3 billion, even though its annual revenue is less than $1 billion. At that price, Nokia may not be interested. Recently, the company said its strategy was to purchase young, small technology companies rich with talent.

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