News Corp. (NWS

) shares rose after Salomon Smith Barney upgraded them to buy from outperform. Yesterday, the media company posted third quarter earnings from operations per ADR of $0.18, vs. $0.12 a year ago.

Analyst Jill Krutick says the upgrade and lifting of price target is based on the high end of her sum-of-the-parts valuation. She says the upgrade relates to more clarity on several issues that had been overhanging the company's outlook.

Krutick notes third quarter earnings beat the Street estimates of $0.16, highlighting strong operating momentum across operations. In particular, the company's Film & Cable segment results were considerably stronger than expected, while the print businesses also outpeformed despite weaker top-line results. She raised the price target to $33 from $30.