Eye On Stocks For Friday, March 4

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Dell (nasdaq: DELL -  news  -  people ) announced a $10 billion stock buyback plan and said it repurchased $1.3 billion in common stock in the current quarter. The stock was up slightly in after-hours trading. In February, Prudential Equity Group maintained an "overweight" rating for the tech giant and said Dell's fourth-quarter earnings report was "very solid," adding that PC demand remained positive. "We would recommend investors use this opportunity to buy Dell shares aggressively near the $40 level, while selling Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ -  news  -  people ), which we believe is likely to under-perform in the near-term," Prudential said. "We believe the shares should benefit from improving margins as well as continued share repurchases and a lower average tax rate."

Genentech (nyse: DNA - news - people ) will host an investor and analyst meeting in New York tomorrow morning. Banc of America Securities reiterated a "buy" rating for the biotech firm last Tuesday, saying concerns over a competing cancer treatment from Novartis appeared "overblown." The research firm said Genentech is poised for a catalyst-rich year, with Lucentis data expected in the second quarter, Rituxan data in rheumatoid arthritis within the first half of the year, and momentum from a strong Tarceva launch expected through fiscal 2005. Banc of America said Genentech has the best product line-up, pipeline and management in the industry, and reiterated a target price of $62.

Take-Two Interactive Software (nasdaq: TTWO - news - people ) reported seasonally strong first-quarter earnings but guided second-quarter targets lower than expected. The stock was seen up 2% in extended trading. The videogame maker continued to rake in profits from its popular Grand Theft Auto franchise; the company plans to launch versions for the Xbox, PC and Sony PSP handheld in the third quarter. Take-Two reported earnings of $1.19 cents per share on sales of $502.5 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected earnings of $1.09 and $453 million in sales. Take-Two projected a second-quarter loss 20 cents per share compared with the Street forecasted loss of 13 cents per share.

Sonus Networks (nasdaq: SONS - news - people ) plunged 18% in after-hours trading after the telecom equipment firm delayed reporting full-year results pending the completion of an audit of financial statements. Sonus, a provider of VoIP solutions, projected quarterly earnings of 2 cents to 3 cents per share on sales of $43 million to $46 million, compared with analysts' estimates of $50 million in sales and earnings of 2 cents per share. "In light of previously reported material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting, the company believes it is prudent to report its full financial results after its audit has been completed and it files its audited financial statements," the company said in a release. "The preliminary results reported in this release may be subject to change in connection with the completion of the company's audited financial statements. Sonus said "while there can be no assurances it will do so," it expects to file its annual statements by March 16. On Jan. 12, Goldman Sachs upgraded the telecommunications equipment industry to "attractive" from "neutral" and said it expected 15% to 30% upside for Sonus, Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) and Netgear (nasdaq: NTGR - news - people ). "Underpinning our upgrade of the group is our view that valuations are broadly attractive with many CommTech players trading at, or even below, market multiples but offering better than market growth and returns," Goldman Sachs said. "Additionally, the strength in the industry's key cyclical and secular trends in our view allows us to comfortably look out to 2006 for several players." Since the sector upgrade, shares of Motorola and Netgear have fallen 17.5% and 8.4%, respectively, while Sonus is down 8.3% as of today's closing price.