Acer shares hit near 2-week high on sales forecast

TAIPEI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Shares of Acer Inc (2353.TW), the world's third-largest PC vendor, rose more than 3 percent to a near two-week high on Monday, after the Taiwan company last week gave upbeat forecasts on its 2008 revenue and PC sales. At 0355 GMT, Acer shares were up 3.9 percent to T$58.80, outpacing a 1.6 percent rise on the broader electronics sub-index .TELI. Taiwan's main TAIEX rose 1.7 percent.

Acer said after the market close on Friday it expected stronger PC sales to boost revenue "very close" to $20 billion this year, above market expectations and up about 40 percent from last year [nTP75561].

Acer also reaffirmed its sales target for the third quarter, despite recent signs of a sector slowdown from industry giants Dell (DELL.O) and Taiwan's Compal Electronics (2324.TW). [nTP75561]

"We think in a 12-month horizon Acer should continue to outperform the market," Goldman Sachs wrote in a research note published on Sunday. "Acer is one of our top picks."

Goldman Sachs rated Acer at "buy" and gave the stock a target share price of T$80.

Acer aims to usurp Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) as the world's largest notebook PC supplier by 2011, but Acer Chairman J.T. Wang said its success in the cheaper netbook PC segment may help it happen ahead of the original target year.

(US$1=T$32.1)

(Reporting by Baker Li, Editing by Keiron Henderson)

((baker.li@reuters.com; +886 2 2508-0815; Reuters messaging: baker.li.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: ACER/HOTSTOCK

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