What Covestor managers are buying: Dell (DELL, QCOM, GOOG)

For his Performance with Protection portfolio, Covestor model manager Leif Eriksen takes a top-down fundamental approach that favors large- and mid-cap companies. His goal is to outperform the market over the long run while protecting capital. Current top positions include Qualcomm Inc (QCOM), Devon Energy Corp (DVN), and NxStage Medical (NXTM).

On March 22, Eriksen added a position in Dell Inc (DELL), the tech giant. Chinese news agency Xinhua recently broke the news that DELL had begun construction on a new operation center in China:

Dell Inc. started construction on an operation center in Chengdu, its second in China, Xinhua News Agency said, citing Min Yida, president of the company’s greater china district.

The center is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter and will combine manufacturing, sales and service, Xinhua said.

Zacks Equity Research further expanded upon DELL’s recent international expansion pursuits:

Dell Inc. is exploring new avenues for growth, and has recently turned its focus on the Indian market. The company already has 23,000 employees in India, and is in the process of increasing its headcount by another thousand over the next year or so.

The company is planning to tap the Indian market in a big way and will step up its operations to achieve total annual revenue of $2.0 billion from that country. Recently, the company launched two handsets based on the Google (GOOG) Android 2.1 platform in the Indian market. The high-end 3G enabled handsets, christened XCD 28 and XCD 35, are competitively priced.

Introduction of new products in PC and smartphone segments confirm Dell’s growing interest in the Indian market.

Sources:

“Dell Starts Work on Second China Operation Center, Xinhua Says” Joshua Fellman. Bloomberg, 3/24. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-23/dell-starts-work-on-second-china-operation-center-xinhua-says.html

“New Opportunities for Dell” Zacks Equity Research, 3/23. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/New-Opportunities-for-zacks-404590488.html