Dell Shares Rise to Record as 4th-Qtr Shipments Surge
New York, Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Dell Computer Corp., the biggest direct seller of personal computers, rose 6.2 percent to a record after a report on industry sales showed Dell is still growing much faster than its rivals.
Dell rose 5 13/16 to 100 in trading of 36.4 million, making it the most active stock in U.S. markets. Earlier, it touched a record 100 3/8, up more than 50 percent in three months.
Today's rally started after International Data Corp. said Dell's PC shipments rose 56 percent in the fourth quarter, giving the company 8.4 percent of the world market. Dell saw the strongest growth of any of the top five manufacturers as it benefited from its model of selling directly to end users, carrying very little inventory to keep costs low.
''Their growth is still very robust,'' said Duane Eatherly, portfolio manager at Banc One Investment Advisors Corp. in Columbus, Ohio, which owns more than 3 million Dell shares. The numbers from IDC show that Round Rock, Texas-based Dell's sales in the quarter ending today will rise 45 percent.
The company is expected to earn 31 cents a share in the fiscal fourth quarter, the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp., compared with net income of $285 million, or 20 cents, in the year-earlier period.
IDC today said worldwide PC shipments rose a better-than- expected 15 percent in the fourth quarter as U.S. consumers snapped up inexpensive machines during the holiday season. IDC had expected shipments to rise 12 percent worldwide.
''The PC industry is growing faster than some people expected,'' said Sands Brothers & Co. analyst Matt Russo, who rates Dell ''buy.'' ''Everyone is doing well right now.''
Dell is doing particularly well, especially in the U.S., where it made gains against industry leader Compaq Computer Corp. Dell's share of the U.S. market rose to 12.8 percent in the fourth quarter from 9.9 percent a year ago. Compaq's share of the U.S. market fell to 18.1 percent from 19 percent.
Compaq's shares rose 3/8 to 47 9/16. |
