By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks kicked off the week
with broad gains Monday as the back-and-forth over Dell Inc.'s
proposed plans to go private claimed some of the attention of the
tech sector following the latest move by activist investor Carl
Icahn.
Ichan said his Icahn Enterprises L.P. had signed a
confidentiality agreement with Dell (DELL) and will begin reviewing
information related to the PC maker's plans to go private in a deal
that values Dell at $13.65 a share, or $24.4 billion.
Icahn has said he believes Dell is worth more and wants the
company to pay a $9-a-share dividend if the deal is voted down by
Dell's shareholders.
Dell's shares rose 1.5%, or 21 cents, to close at $14.37.
BlackBerry Inc. shares (RIMM) surged more than 14% to $14.90
after the company set a March 22 release date for its new Z10
smartphone. The Z10 will cost $199 with a two-year contract with
AT&T Inc. (T).
Apple Inc. (AAPL) turned its back on a downgrade by CLSA analyst
Avi Silver to rise 1.4% and close at $437.87. Silver trimmed his
rating on Apple's stock to outperform from buy and lowered his
price target to $505 a share from $575, blaming "weaker iPhone
trends" for his new rating and price target.
Shares of Google Inc. (GOOG) ended the day with a gain of $3.30
to close at $834.82. Before the market opened, RBC Capital Markets
analyst Mark Mahaney raised his price target on Google's stock to
$950 a share, from $840.
Mahaney also raised his price target on Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) to $24
a share from $22, mostly due to the rising value of Yahoo's stake
in Yahoo Japan. Yahoo shares shed 1% to trade at $22.71.
Among other tech stocks, gains came from Oracle Corp. (ORCL),
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Facebook Inc. (FB) and Priceline.com
Inc. (PCLN).
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) ended the day up by 8.5 points
at 3,252, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) managed
to close with a small gain.
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