EMC shares climb after upgrade from Barclays

EMC Corp. shares advanced Wednesday after a Barclays Capital analyst upgraded the data-storage company, predicting more stable sales and gross margins.

In a note to clients, analyst Ben Reitzes said checks with customers and suppliers indicate demand for EMC's high-end storage units is stabilizing, with help from new products.

Reitzes said the improvement may arrive before other areas of IT, such as servers or desktop computers, which should make EMC's quarterly expectations "more achievable."

He upgraded the Hopkinton, Mass.-based company to "Overweight" from "Equal Weight" and raised his share price target to $16 from $12.

Shares jumped 50 cents, or 4 percent, to $13.08 in afternoon trading.