EMC stock is rising amid speculation the company will sell off VMware, according to a Bloomberg story hot off the virtual press.

The story quotes one New York equity trader who says rumors about EMC selling its majority stake in VMware have been picking up recently. And another trader tells Bloomberg that observers are expecting some big news out of EMC’s annual meeting next week.

Virtualization.info chimes in that Intel is the rumored buyer.

EMC announced its plans to acquire VMware, the virtualization market giant, for $635 million late in 2003. VMware still operates independently from EMC and keeps its headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., across the country from EMC’s base in Hopkinton, Mass.