S&P Favors Dell Over Hewlett-Packard (DELL, HPQ)

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Published
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It appears as though Standard & Poors is coming out more favorable on Dell (DELL-NASDAQ) than they are on Hewlett-Packard (HPQ-NYSE).  Here are the S&P notes:

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ-NYSE) Reiterated 3 STARS (Hold):
We are raising our fiscal year 2007 (Oct.) EPS estimate by 11 cents to $2.64. We believe January quarter results reflect the overall consistency of HP’s offerings, as well as its success with expense controls. However, we believe these factors are fully reflected in the current share price….. shares trade at a modest premium to the S&P 500 on a price-to-earnings basis. As a result, we would not add to existing positions. Our 12-month target price is $45.

Dell Inc. (DELL-NASDAQ) Upgraded to 4 STARS (Buy) from 3 STARS (Hold):
Although Dell continues to face a number of challenges regarding its business model and competitive environment, we believe these factors are fully reflected in the share price. Moreover, we view recent management changes, including Michael Dell’s return as CEO, positively, and we think changes will spur efficiency improvements and innovation. Finally, we see the existing cash and investments balance, and ongoing free cash flow generation providing opportunities to supplement growth and product endeavors. We are keeping our 12-month target price of $28.

Jon C. Ogg
February 21, 2007

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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