UPDATE 1-RESEARCH ALERT-UBS raises Thomson Reuters to buy

Nov 6 (Reuters) - UBS upgraded Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO) (TRI.N) to "buy" from "sell," saying the company was well positioned for sustainable growth despite uncertainties in the near term.

On Thursday, the news and financial data publisher said quarterly revenue fell in its markets and legal businesses as customers cut costs in the wake of the financial crisis, but it said the worst was over. [ID:nN0598218]

"We believe investors will see through the lagging financial results and focus on the recovery of the underlying business drivers," analyst Phillip Huang said in a note.

He raised his price target on the stock to $37.50 from $23.50.

Huang said he expected the underlying drivers for the business to notably improve over the next 12 months due to increasing visibility of stabilization in the headcount for the financial and legal sectors.

However, Huang said there were uncertainties in the near term as he expected the company's financial results to remain volatile.

"We have yet to see the full impact of the downturn reflected in the financial results for Markets and Legal given the late cycle nature of the subscription business," he said.

Thomson Reuters shares are attractive despite these uncertainties because the rewards outweigh the risks, he said.

The company's shares were down 1 percent at $31.89 early Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Purwa Naveen Raman in Bangalore; Editing by Mike Miller)