Needham’s Greg Mesniaeff today launched coverage of BigBand Networks (BBND) with a Hold rating, asserting that the stock’s valuation is “on the rich side.”

Mesniaeff says the company has scored some early stage wins from cable system operators in the market for switched digital video, but cautions that that the company has “inherently lumpy order flow, long revenue recognition cycles” and high dependency on wins from a few large customers. He also notes that operating expenses in the latest quarter ticked higher, raising “near-term operational questions.”

The analyst’s advice: “remain on the sidelines.”

BBND today is off 13 cents, or 2%, to $6.41.