NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Wireless stocks rallied Thursday after cell phone maker Nokia unveiled a surprisingly strong forecast for growth in cell phone sales this year.

Texas Instruments (up $1.01 to $33.00, Research), the number one maker of cell phone chips that counts Nokia as its biggest customer, saw its stock rise about 3 percent, and chipmaker RF Micro (up $0.37 to $8.69, Research), another large Nokia customer, gained about 4.5 percent.

STMicroelectronics (up $0.43 to $18.37, Research), which makes camera modules for camera phone and other related products, added about 2 percent.

Speaking at Nokia's annual meeting in Helsinki, Finland, Nokia CEO Jorma Ollila said the No. 1 cell phone maker expects the mobile phone market will grow 15 percent or more this year from an estimated 795 million last year, up from its previous forecast of 10 percent growth.

Nokia (up $0.83 to $21.05, Research)'s U.S. shares rallied nearly 4 percent, while rival Motorola (up $0.44 to $23.21, Research) gained about 2 percent.

Nokia also launched three new phone models, unveiling the handsets in China as it targets new clients in fast-growing emerging markets, Reuters reported.

"The wireless area seems to be gaining momentum," said Jeff Layman, chief investment officer of wealth management firm BKD Wealth Advisors. Layman's firm owns shares of Qualcomm (up $0.42 to $51.14, Research), which makes integrated circuits and software for wireless products. Its shares rose as well.

Cody Acree, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., said Thursday's rally was not surprising, but added that the surge in wireless stocks highlights some undervalued names.

"Anything that's good for handset vendors is good for component vendors," said Acree, who added that while Texas Instruments still has room to grow, the stock has had a good run and its share price reflects the stability it has enjoyed relative to competitors.

Acree cited a number of turnaround stories that he called intriguing.

One example: STMicroelectronics. The company had a rough ride after the tech bust of 2000, falling from north of $60 to about $18 now, or roughly 24 times 2006 calendar earnings estimates.

But Acree thinks it stands to gain from growth in the wireless market and years of restructuring.

"It's been undervalued and in our opinion it's one of those turnaround efforts that are starting to get some real traction in 2006," said Acree.

RF Micro has also seen some difficult quarters but is finally getting traction from its relationships with Nokia and Motorola in the wireless market, Acree said.

"They are ramping nicely into Motorola's PEBL and SLVR phones, and the SLVR looks to be doing very well in the first half of the year," he said.

Another beneficiary of today's news was Skyworks (up $0.11 to $6.94, Research), which makes chips and integrated circuits for mobile phones.

A pair of analyst upgrades this week helped boost shares of the company, which had a difficult 2005 thanks to lost market share. Analysts think the company is poised to gain share from its rivals this year. Skyworks currently trades at around 30 times expected 2006 earnings.

On the small-cap front, Pierre Maccagno, an analyst with Needham & Co., is fond of Anadigics (up $0.11 to $7.46, Research), which makes integrated circuits.

Maccagno thinks the money-losing company is set to break even this year, and he upgraded the stock last week after attending the company's annual analyst meeting. The company's shares have jumped 20 percent since the close of trading last Thursday.

"Business is just booming -- everything is pointing in the right direction for very nice growth in the wireless sector and in broadband," he said.

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Nokia sees bigger worldwide handset sales. Full story.