Dell stock rises as analyst upgrades after calling bottom to PC market
By Wallace Witkowski
Morgan Stanley upgrades PC maker to overweight, hikes price target to $55
Dell Technologies Inc. shares rose Tuesday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the PC maker and called a March-ending quarter bottom in the sector still reeling from inventory issues.
Dell (DELL) shares rose as much as 4% in morning trading to an intraday high of $45.65. That puts shares up 13% year to date, compared with an 8% gain in the S&P 500 index and a 16% rise in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index .
Woodring upgraded Dell to overweight from equal weight and raised his price target to $55 from $45, forecasting that the PC market bottomed in March-ending quarter.
"The worst of the PC downcycle is likely behind us, and we expect Dell to outperform alongside the rebound in the PC market, similar to past PC cycles," Woodring said.
"More so than any other name in our coverage, Dell's management has been ultra-conservative in guiding [fiscal year 2024], which limits negative earnings revisions risk," the Morgan Stanley analyst noted. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect fiscal 2024 earnings of $5.30 a share on revenue of $87.13 billion.
"We believe management is hyper-focused on accelerating shareholder returns, which our analysis shows increases the odds of outperformance vs. peers," the analyst added.
Of the 20 analysts surveyed by FactSet that cover Dell, 13 had buy ratings, while seven had hold ratings, along with a price target of $45.09.
-Wallace Witkowski
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 02, 2023 10:12 ET (14:12 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.