Dell stays a Merrill buy

NEW YORK: Merrill Lynch said analyst Steve Fortuna kept his buy rating on

personal computer maker Dell Computer Corp. on Friday, despite the company’s

warnings about its third quarter sales. Merrill Lynch has said that it still

maintained a price target of $36 for Dell.

The stock was lower on Thursday after the company warned that its

third-quarter sales would be below forecasts. Merrill Lynch, which attended

Dell's analysts' meeting in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday and Thursday, said there

"were no major announcements regarding new partnership relationships or

product introductions at the meeting."

It added, "the management did take the opportunity to flesh out its

storage strategy in more depth than in the past."

The Dell shares were up 9/16 on Friday at $25-3/4.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.