Barclays Capital analyst Israel Hernandez this morning repeated his Equal Weight rating on Microsoft (MSFT) while trimming his price target on the stock to $28, from $30, following reports that Q3 PC sales were weaker than expected.
Gartner reported 7.6% unit growth in the quarter; they had been forecasting 12.7% growth. IDC reported 11% growth, below their forecast of 13.5%. Hernandez noted that the weakness was attributed to sluggish consumer demand in the U.S. and Europe, while enterprise, emerging markets and Apple (AAPL) were areas of strength.
Hernandez said the weak PC shipments “suggests” $120 million to $200 million of risk to his September quarter forecast of $4.56 billion of Windows revenue.
“Given all the negative commentary from the PC supply chain over past few months, we believe this news has largely already been reflected in Microsoft�s share price, though we believe concerns regarding potential share losses to the iPad are likely to remain an overhang on sentiment over the next few months,” he writes.
MSFT this morning is down 24 cents, or 1%, to $25.10.
No comments:
Post a Comment