Stifel Nicolaus Raises PT On DELL In Morning Summary

Stifel Nicolaus has raised its price target from $18 to $20 on Dell DELL and is maintaining its Buy rating on the stock. In the summary, Stifel Nicolaus reports, “We believe shares of Dell should sustain the post-close favorable reaction (+5%) following a F1Q12 rptd non-GAAP EPS upside driven by another qtr of results providing further comfort of sustained GM% improvement (above/beyond component pricing). Dell rptd F1Q12 at $15.017B/$0.55 vs. our $15.245B/$0.40 estimate w/ GM% at 23.4% (vs. our 20.2% est.). Product GM% stood at 22.4%, ahead of our 18.0% estimate and up from 19.5% rptd in F4Q11. Although Dell's F2Q12/F2012 guide would imply a pullback in GM%/OIM% trends, we believe new/higher levels looking forward support a strong uplift to street expectations.” DELL closed yesterday at $15.90.