Dell (DELL) hit $28.86, a 52-week high, which also puts the stock up 20% during the last year, a better performance than the S&P.

Some of the increase comes indirectly from upgrades of companies like Intel (INTC). Lehman jacked up its rating on the shares partly due to an anticipation that Dell’s new push into retail would drive a demand for chips.

Dell continues to delay its financial filings due to an investigation into its accounting practices, but the market seems to take that in stride. It is certainly not hurting the shares.

IDC slightly raised its forecasts for PC shipments in 2007 to a 12.2% increase over 2006 numbers. Its previous forecast was 11.1%. But, the research firm lowered its 2008 growth rate projection.

As TheStreet.com pointed out regarding the company’s quarterly figures: "Dell’s results look like they were in fact in line. Net income was flat, operating margin was down slightly and sales increased a scant 2.8% — all of which sounds a lot like the pressure Dell predicted."

That leaves Dell’s move into retail. Its deal to sell through Wal-Mart. It may work. It may take sales from Dell’s direct-to-customer model. It is too early to tell. But, what the market should know is that Dell will have to fight Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Lenovo, Sony (SNE), and Toshiba for those customers. And, it will have to fight Apple’s (AAPL) Mac.

There is no guarantee that it’s a battle Dell can win.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected].

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