Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu this morning launched coverage of Palm (PALM) with a Hold rating and a $16 price target. He writes in a research note that the company is well-positioned in the smart phone sector with its WebOS software, but that the valuation is expensive; he also is concerned about ongoing operating losses and a weak balance sheet. “While we believe PALM is well-positioned with its webOS software and highly integrated hardware,” he writes, “we are concerned about its balance sheet and continued operating losses over the next four quarters as we don’t model profitability until the August 2010 quarter.”

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Goldman Sachs this morning added Research In Motion (RIMM) to the firm’s Conviction Buy list, replacing Cisco Systems (CSCO), which still remains Buy rated. The company also removed Riverbed (RVBD) from its Conviction Sell list, while maintaining its Sell rating.

“For RIMM, we want to take advantage of the stock’s very compelling valuation and upcoming catalysts, including to Storm launch and fiscal Q3 (November) earnings,” writes analyst Simona Jankowski. She notes that RIMM shares are down 62 percent over the last three months, compared with 51 percent for the average stock she covers and 32 percent for the S&P 500, on concerns of slowing demand and margin pressure as a result of competitive offerings from Apple (AAPL) and others.

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Has news site Digg really made no progress in two years?

That’s what you’d have to conclude from the value investors are placing on Digg after its most recent investment: $164 million.

You’ll remember the hyped Business Week article from more than two years ago that reported “people in the know” said the company’s value was “easily worth $200 million.” The reference suggested Digg and its investors were hoping to steer perceptions that it was worth at least that much.

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Tech bloggers and investors have come up with a new parlor game: Guessing Facebook’s “real” valuation. Nobody seems to believe the company’s official $15 billion valuation that it announced when it raised its most recent, not-yet-closed round from Microsoft and others.

The latest guess: A new study out today by VC Experts pegs the valuation at $12.5 billion, a number derived from the firm’s proprietary valuation-calculation methodology and based on numbers from numerous public documents. Take a look. This is perhaps the most well-researched guess yet, and includes lots of details like stock prices on the dates of various funding rounds.

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Netflix (NFLX) shares are coming under pressure today following a skeptical note on the company from Needham analyst Charlie Wolf.

Wolf today picked up coverage of the company with an Under Perform rating; he writes that “the company’s current valuation incorporates unrealistic subscriber acquisition cost and churn rate assumptions.” He calculates fair value for the shares to be $22, well below the current level.

Wolf, a long-time Apple bull, seems to be making the anti-iTunes call here. “Netflix’s immediate challenge lies in building a profitable video digital distribution business,” he writes. “In contrast with the online DVD rental market, which the company has owned, Netflix will have to compete with several heavyweights in this market. Indeed, Apple has already carved out a first-mover advantage.”

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Clouds are gathering over Silicon Valley’s consumer Internet companies. The sale of social-networking company Bebo comes at a time when private investors are changing their tune. They’re no longer pumping money into start-ups at the same huge valuations they were doing last year.

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