Goldman Sachs upgraded Seagate Technology (STX

) and Dell (DELL

) to outperform from in-line.

Analyst Laura Conigiliaro says she's upgrading the enterprise hardware sector to neutral from cautious. She says with end market conditions firming, many technology companies are in position to meet or beat fourth-quarter estimates. Also, with 2004 to look forward to, she's now comfortable taking a more constructive but still pragmatic view.

In conjuction with the group upgrade, she upgraded Seagate and Dell to outperform while keeping IBM at outperform. She says, given her relative stock rating system, she thinks growth prospects, together with valuation for Seagate and Dell, put them at the top of her list.