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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: johnd who wrote (48825)	8/28/2000 3:06:31 PM
From: johnd	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

IBM Moves Within Range of All-Time High NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) rose on Monday, moving within striking distance of their all-time high on optimism about the second half at the world's largest computer maker. IBM shares rose 3 1/4 to 132 1/4. The stock has been trading well off a high of 138 1/4, hit in July of 1999, going as low as 90 in November as the company and investors foresaw a Year 2000-related spending slowdown. ``I don't think there is one single thing that is driving IBM's share price upwards,'' said Lehman Brothers analyst George Elling. ``I think people are feeling more confident that the second half will improve as they hoped.'' Other factors in the company's sales slump included a pullout from retail sales of its personal computers in the United States, and trouble in its hard disk-drive business. IBM last month signaled a stronger second half, and Monday analysts said that a turnaround was in fact in place. Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Amit Chopra reiterated his ``buy'' rating on the stock, and raised IBM's 12-month price target to $150 from $125. ``We believe that IBM is on track to meet or beat our third-quarter earnings per share forecast of $1.07, on revenue growth of 8.6 percent,'' he wrote in a note to clients. ``The company is experiencing strong demand for its high-end and recently introduced midrange Web servers, dragging along middleware,'' Chopra said. He said that a new G7 mainframe coming in October, with limited shipments in the fourth quarter, could also boost the share price. ``During its last major mainframe upgrade cycle, IBM traded at a premium to competitors with similar growth profiles -- a pattern that could well be repeated,'' he said. Wit Soundview analyst Gary Helmig also pointed to improvements expected in IBM's Shark storage line, which were delayed from April to October. The improvements, including remote copy, point in time copy, and native fiber features, are meant to help IBM compete with storage market leader EMC Corp. (NYSE:EMC - news). Elling pointed out that troubles in the hard disk-drive line would now be behind IBM, and that the company's personal computer line could be brought back to profitability by year end. ===== A stronger 2nd half for IBM, Compaq, etc.. shouldn't that mean stronger 2nd half for MSFT?