By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- A report saying Dell Inc. was in
talks to go private took over the lion's share of attention in tech
stocks Monday, even as losses from Apple Inc. continued to weigh on
the overall sector.
Dell (DELL) shares surged more than 15% to $12.52. Bloomberg
News reported that Dell is in talks with two private-equity firms
about taking the PC and computer-industry giant private.
Dell has seen its overall market position in PCs decline, as the
company has lost ground to the likes of Lenovo Group and the rise
of tablets such as the iPad and Android-based devices.
In addition to Dell, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) shares climbed
more than 5% to $17.04.
J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz raised his rating on
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to neutral from underweight, saying he was
taking a look at what he called "riskier stocks." Moskowitz also
raised his rating on Fusion-io Inc. (FIO) to overweight from
neutral, helping Fusion's shares get a boost of more than 4%, to
reach $20.76.
(HPQ)(HPQ)"With H-P, our view is that the headline news just
cannot get much worse," Moskowitz wrote in a note. "As for
Fusion-io, our research points to Fusion-io continuing to hold the
pole position in server-side data acceleration technology."
Another notable Monday gainer was Research In Motion Ltd.
(RIMM), as the BlackBerry maker's shares rose more than 8% to
$14.73. RIM's shares have been rising over the last few sessions in
anticipation of a company event set for Jan. 30 in which RIM will
debut new smartphones using the BlackBerry 10 operating system.
Websense Inc. (WBSN) rose 3% to $15.47 after the network
security company said late Sunday that it projects
better-than-expected sales for the fourth quarter. It also named
John McCormack as it new CEO, replacing Gene Hodges.
"In our opinion, the change at the top will be well received by
investors this morning given McCormack's natural transition from
his role as president, while we also believe a new CEO was the
'right move at the right time' as it could be the first step in a
new strategic direction," FBR Capital analyst Daniel Ives said in a
note.
Despite a slate of notable gainers, it was the losses from Apple
(AAPL) that also claimed many investors' attention and weighed on
the tech sector. Apple (AAPL) shares fell 3% to $504.35 -- having
slipped below the $500 mark earlier in session for the first time
since February. That also put the stock at a record-low
valuation.
The Wall Street Journal and Japan's Nikkei reported that orders
for parts for the iPhone 5 have been below Apple's estimates,
suggesting that sales of the smartphone might not meet analysts'
forecasts. Among the components that Apple's suppliers have
reportedly cut back on are screens and LCD panels.
By early afternoon, Moskowitz of J.P. Morgan issued a note
calling the selloff "overdone." He maintained his $770 price target
on the shares, predicting Apple will sell about 25 million units of
the iPhone 5 in both the December and March quarters. "We believe
the supply chain adjustments are ever-changing, and we remain
comfortable with our iPhone 5 estimates" for those periods, he
added.
It was a busy day for Moskowitz, who also cut his ratings on
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and EMC Corp. (EMC) to
neutral from overweight. Moskowitz said both companies, which have
been perceived as "safe havens," could be seeing selling
pressure.
IBM's shares were off by almost 1%, at $192.97, while EMC still
managed to edge up by 12 cents a share to $33.10.
Separately, an upgrade by Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Sandler
couldn't help Facebook Inc. (FB) shares from retreating by almost
1%, to $31.45.
Sandler raised his rating to buy from hold, calling the
company's mobile newsfeed "the game-changer" and pointing to strong
revenue momentum heading into 2013. Facebook's scheduled to talk
about business initiatives at a company event on Tuesday.
With decliners leading the way, the Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) fell
5 points to 3,100. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) was
also in the red, but the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH)
managed to edge up slightly into positive territory.
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