I’ve been talking quite a bit about how much I love the Centro smartphones by Palm, and why I think it’s going to be a sleeper hit, and now someone finally agrees with me. That someone is JPMorgan, who upgraded Palm’s stock to “buy” on the strength of the Centro and it’s impending launch on AT&T sometime next week.

See, the Centro is inexpensive, just the right size, and simple enough for the Casual Smartphone User™, which is set to be the fastest growing new smartphone market globally. It’s also powerful enough to do what most users need, and has a consumer-friendly form factor.

The “buy” rating made the stock jump, now up 12% over yeasterday. This is good news for Palm, a company many think is on the brink of failure. It’s true Palm’s been all over the board lately, but it seems to now have its focus back, and it’s good to have it back in play.

Out of the Gate: Palm Shares Advance [CNN Money]