Platinum Software Corp.’s Stock Upgrade Is Golden

Platinum Software Corp. stock surged Monday to a 52-week high after an analyst upgraded the shares.

Analysts said the company, a provider of financial management software, is benefiting from strong growth in Microsoft Corp.’s NT operating system for businesses.

More middle-sized companies are using Microsoft’s NT operating system, said Hambrecht & Quist LLC analyst James Pickrel, who upgraded the stock to “buy” from “hold.” He said the company bet early on NT’s acceptance and developed applications for the system.

Platinum’s stock rose more than 18%, or $2.29 a share, to $17.50 on volume of 3.63 million shares.

For the last three months, the daily volume has averaged 366,000 shares. Earlier in the session, the shares touched a 52-week high of $17.75.

Pickrel also raised his fiscal year 1998 estimates to 46 cents a share from 40 cents, and 1999 to 85 cents from 55 cents.