Lazard Capital Markets analyst Ryan Hutchinson this morning downgraded EMC (EMC) to “Hold” from “Buy,” writing that a major revamp of the company’s storage hardware that’s been in the works for sometime will likely not show up before April of 2011, versus an expectation it would materialize in Q4 of this year, citing “industry sources.”
The upgrade to EMC’s “mid-range” Clariion and Celerra storage equipment is critical to keep pace with NetApp (NTAP), which leads EMC in the category in terms of share growth, writes Hutchinson. “A delayed response could engender further share losses,” writes Hutchinson.
EMC is still a “solid long-term holding” given its “consistent financial performance,” but the shares are near a two-year high, observes Hutchinson.
EMC stock today is up 5 cents, a quarter percent, at $20.36.
NetApp shares today are down $1.05, or 2%, at $48.74.
No comments:
Post a Comment