Dell Computer shares fell yesterday over comments by the company president about the outlook for the personal-computer market.
Dell shares dropped 31 cents to close at $32.86 yesterday as the overall tech sector was mired in a day-long slump.
Before the market opened, J.P. Morgan analysts released a research note detailing information from a meeting with president and chief operating officer Mr Kevin Rollins regarding the company and the PC market.
In the note, Mr Rollins was said to be "very explicit in his view that there are no signs of any end-user demand recovery".
Mr Rollins specifically highlighted a lack of new proposal requests from businesses, as well as no significant growth in the consumer or small-business segments.
Such a view was enough to support the Morgan analysts' view that the recent run-up in PC share-prices flies in the face of the state of the market.
"We believe that Mr Rollins's comments suggest that the recent market euphoria concerning PC related investments is not yet supported by the end demand reality," analysts said.
A Dell spokesman said Mr Rollins was out of the office and unable to elaborate on his comments but described his view as "old news".
The company's Irish operation employs 4,300 people in Limerick and Wicklow.
AFP