This Morning: Dell Targets Up on Deal Talk, SAP Sags, AAPL Bulls and Bears

Here’s some things going on this morning in your world of tech:

Cue the Dell (DELL) buyout think pieces. Following a report yesterday by Bloomberg that Dell is shopping itself around to private equity shops, the Street has a chance to revisit some thoughts on what the company could be worth.

Reuters‘s Nadia Damouni and Poornima Gupta followed this morning with their own report, citing two unnamed sources that said the company is in talks with private equity firms Texas Pacific Group and Silver Lake. The shares are up 31 cents, almost 3%, at $12.60.

Jefferies & Co.’s Peter Misek this morning reiterates a Hold rating on Dell shares, while raising his price target to $13 from $10, writing that “a $15-$17 take-out price is possible with the biggest variable being finding private equity firms willing to contribute ~$5B in equity alongside Michael Dell’s stake.”

UBS’s Steve Milunovich raised his price target to $13.50 from $10.50, while reiterating a Neutral rating, writing a deal is possible, but the potential size complicates things.

Shares of�SAP AG�(SAP) are down $3.49, over 4%, at $78.39 after the company this morning announced preliminary Q4 results, projecting revenue of �5.02 billion, which was higher than the company projected but below the average �5.13 billion estimate of analysts.

Shares of Google (GOOG) continue to be under pressure this morning in advance of Facebook‘s (FB) media event at its headquarters. The stock is down $9.09, or 1.3%, to $714.16. In case you missed it, The New York Times’s Somini Sengupta this morning points out the risk to Google: that�search could be big for Facebook. The article doesn’t say what today’s event may hold, but is more a general overview of opportunities and challenges for Facebook.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) were rebounding for a little while in early trading, following yesterday’s selloff on worries about cuts to this quarter’s iPhone production. But the stock has succumbed again and is now down $12.15, or 2.4%, at $489.60.

Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee reiterates a Buy rating and an $840 price target, writing that his “checks” suggest the company will meet consensus revenue estimates when it reports fiscal Q1 results a week from Wednesday, and possibly beat on EPS, as the iPhone units may surprise to the upside at 47.5 million units.

There there were a number of positive notes on the stock overnight. R.W. Baird’s William Power today reiterates a Buy rating and a $750 price target, writing that data points from AT&T (T) and Verizon Communications (VZ) from last quarter “look solid” and indicate continued demand for the iPhone.

One thing that is happening, however, is the fast rollout of iPhone to 100 carriers almost immediately, versus 52 for the iPhone, which may contribute to what’s expected to be a 20% quarter-to-quarter drop in shipments this quarter, as more demand was able to be satisfied “up-front.”

But it’s not all positive for Apple this morning. Nomura Equity Research’s Stuart Jeffrey reiterates a Neutral rating, while cutting his price target to $530 from $660, after cutting his iPhone unit sales estimates by 5% this year and 8% for next fiscal year what the same time raising his iPad estimates by 12% this year and 13% next year. Of particular concern, Jeffrey argues that the company’s gross margin on the iPhone could fall from a recent high of 55%, by his estimate, to 45% next year and the year after, and that it’s possible it could fall as far as 40% which he says is the historic peak for mobile phone vendors.

And speaking of the iPhone, in case you missed it, DigiTimes’s Ninelu Tu and Joseph Tsai this morning follow-up on last week’s discussion of the possibility of a cheaper model. They cite unnamed supply-chain sources saying that such a device might use a plastic chassis, to save costs, and might be put together by one of the U.S. contract electronics manufacturers.

Apple’s suppliers, mind you, are mixed this morning. Shares of audio chip maker Cirrus Logic (CRUS) are up 15 cents, or half a percent, at $28.77, while shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) are down 31 cents, or half a percent, at $63.93. Andrew Huang with Sterne Agee this morning came to Cirrus’s defense, reiterating a Buy rating and a $40 price target.