GTW upgraded by ING, SSB, DB, DLJ, PW and ABN AMRO. Bolding is mine.
NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - Shares of Gateway Inc.
(NYSE:GTW), the world's No. 5 computer maker, climbed 14 percent
on Friday, boosted by strong second-quarter profits and a
chorus of positive comments from Wall Street analysts.
Gateway shares rose as high as $72 in morning trade on the
New York Stock Exchange, up $9 from Thursday's close. They
later slipped back to $70.50. Volume was 3.6 million shares,
more than double the daily average.
On Thursday, the San Diego, Calif.-based company reported
second-quarter profits of $89.2 million, or 56 cents per
diluted share, up from $60.7 million, or 38 cents a share, a
year earlier, boosted by its expansion beyond its core personal
computer business.
The earnings surpassed the consensus Wall Street estimate
of 55 cents a share. Analysts cheered the results and scurried
to upgrade the stock.
ING Baring analyst Robert Cihra, who lifted his rating on
Gateway to "strong buy" from "hold," said the company's solid
performance answered lingering questions about its ability to
grow its sales mix, reduce expenses and deal with slumping
computer prices.
"Although strength in the hot U.S. consumer market
continued to boost overall performance, it was signals
underlying Gateway's business mix that impressed us," Cihra
said in research brief.
Gateway results were boosted by growth in non-computer
businesses such as its Internet service provider, Gateway.net,
software, and financing, the company said.
Salomon Smith Barney analyst Richard Gardner upgraded the
stock to "buy" from "neutral" and set a 12-month price target
of $85 on the shares.
Deutsche Bank Alex Brown raised its opinion on the shares
to "strong buy" from "buy."
Other positive comments came from Donaldson, Lufkin &
Jenrette, which went to "buy" from "market perform;"
PaineWebber, which went to "attractive" from "neutral;" and ABN
AMRO, which went to "outperform" from "hold."
Copyright 1999, Reuters News Service |
