JPMorgan analyst upgrades NetApp on bullish revenue growth prospects

Analyst upgrades NetApp on growth prospects

PHILADELPHIA — Data storage company NetApp Inc. bucked the wider market downturn Tuesday as its shares rose following an analyst’s upgrade of the company based on a bullish revenue growth forecast.

JPMorgan analyst Mark Moskowitz upgraded NetApp to “overweight” from “neutral” and raised his price target on the stock to $41 from $36.50.

He said NetApp’s business continues to strengthen as it gains market share in the server virtualization market and benefits from the shift to midrange storage products. NetApp also gets a lift from increasing effectiveness of its sales channels.

He said revenue could increase at least 20 percent after 2010, growth that is expected to be exceeded only by Apple Inc. among the companies he covers, which also includes EMC Corp., Xerox Corp., Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp. and Lexmark International Inc.

Moskowitz raised his revenue estimates for NetApp’s fiscal fourth quarter to $1.12 billion from $1.1 billion, and earnings excluding special items by a penny to 46 cents per share.

For fiscal 2011, he raised his revenue forecast to $4.71 billion from $4.58 billion, and earnings excluding special items to $1.79 per share from $1.76 per share.

Shares of NetApp, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., rose 69 cents, or 2 percent, to close Tuesday at $33.09.