This was in the wsj, New England, section today
Mr. Labe, an analyst with Buckingham Research Group in New York, had high hopes for EMC. He
dismissed persistent fears that EMC competitors, including Hitachi, Sun Microsystems and IBM,
would dominate the market.
So, he projected 30% annual earnings growth over the next three years and said shares could sell for
as much as $50 within a year -- among the more optimistic targets for EMC.
It wasn't optimistic enough. Shares now sell for $83, as EMC, based in Hopkinton, Mass., became
one of the handful of technology stocks that dominated investors' buy lists, thanks to its strong
earnings, which have exceeded analysts' expectations. Now, with the stock selling for 62 times
trailing 12 month's earnings, some investors are worried about its lofty stock price.
But Mr. Labe says the company has such a solid franchise that the shares could sell for $95 within a
year. Even in a recession, he says, companies would be loath to cut back on their plans to store data,
the lifeblood of their business, regardless of how much the systems cost.
"People don't know what to pay for it," Mr. Labe says. "It's not cheap like it was even six months
ago. But it's as close to a bulletproof product as anything I know about."
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