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Ingram Micro rockets on 3Q earnings, upgrades

Ingram Micro Inc. (Nyse: IM) rose over 23 percent in early trading Friday, boosted by a strong third quarter and a bump up in stock ratings.

Share were up 3.13 to 16.38.

The technology products service firm earned $38.9 million, or 26 cents a share in the period, up 146 percent from last year's number of $15.8 million, or 11 cents a share. The latest earnings topped First Call Corp.'s estimate by a penny.

Sales jumped 13 percent in the latest quarter to $7.56 billion compared to $6.71 billion in the same period last year.

The company also offered positive guidance for the fourth quarter, expecting sales to increase in the low double-digits on a percentage basis in local currencies.

Ingram also said that it expects to achieve operating productivity improvements from the third quarter to the fourth quarter 2000, above the usual seasonal bump in sales.

Analysts' early reaction to the news was positive.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter upgraded the stock from "neutral" to "outperform", while analyst Robert P Anastasi at Raymond James Financial Inc. raised his rating from "buy" to "strong buy".