"This is not a good read for Hewlett-Packard which reports on Wednesday," says Fast trader Karen Finerman as she parsed through the latest results from Dell. "At best it's neutral but most likely it's negative."
Both Finerman and Fast trader Joe Terranova took results as a sign that people aren't buying as many PCs as they had hoped.
After the bell, Dell slashed its 2012 revenue forecast to just 1-5 percent, from 5-9 percent citing weaker than expected technology spending. The company added that sales this quarter would likely stay flat.
Looking at the numbers, Dell posted net income of about $890 million, or 48 cents a share, in the quarter ended July, versus $545 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, it earned 54 cents a share. Analysts had expected 49 cents, according to Thomson Reuters.
On the results, shares slipped 7% in the after-market and trader Dan Nathan doesn't foresee a bounce. "I think the stock is likely to remain down for a bit," he says. "The stock was trading at 52-week highs and up 15% before the results. Expectations were just too high."
"These results makes me want to go counter-cyclical," says Terranova. "What's bad for Dell is probably good for Apple."
And he thinks EMC is a related trade, a provider of storage, as more companies move away from CPU units and toward "the cloud."
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Trader disclosure: On Aug 16th 2011, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders; Nathan owns (AAPL) calls; Nathan owns (BAC) puts; Nathan owns (DELL) puts; Nathan owns (JPM) puts; Nathan owns (AAPL) calls; Finerman and Finerman’s firm own (AAPL); Finerman owns (BAC) and Finerman’s firm own (BAC) leaps; Finerman’s firm owns (CAT) calls; Finerman’s firm owns (WAL); Finerman’s firm owns (MSFT); Finerman’s firm owns (IBM); Finerman’s firm owns (HPQ) and (HPQ) puts; Finerman owns (JPM) and Finerman’s firm owns (JPM) stock and (JPM) leaps; Finerman's Firm Is Short (IWR); Finerman's Firm Is Short (MDY); Finerman's Firm Is Short (XRT); Finerman's Firm Is Short (SPY); Finerman's Firm Is Long S&P 500 Puts; Finerman's Firm Is Long Russell 2000 Puts; Terranova owns (XOM); Terranova owns (CVI); Terranova owns (CAT); Terranova owns (OXY); Terranova owns (AAPL); Terranova owns (DAR); Terranova owns (FCX); Terranova owns (CACI); Terranova owns (ARUN); Terranova owns (ORCL); Terranova owns (EMC); Terranova owns (NCR); Terranova owns (VMW); Terranova owns (IBM); Terranova owns (AMZN); Terranova owns (LULU); Terranova owns (LTD); Terranova owns (WFM); Terranova owns (JPM); Terranova owns (AXP); Terranova owns (FXA); Terranova owns (VRTS); Terranova owns (LQD)
For Joe Terranova
Terranova is Chief Market Strategist of Virtus Investment Partners, LTD
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (ABAX)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (AMKR)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of Building Materials Holdings
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (CASS)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (CSVI)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (EXR)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (FCFS)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (KRC)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (LDR)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (LHO)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (NRCI)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (DBV)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (RLI)
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Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (XLV)
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Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (XLF)
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Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (XLU)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (SUBK)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (WDFC)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of (YDNT)
Virtus Investment Partners Owns More Than 1% Of Domino's Pizza UK & IRL PLC
For Mike Khouw
Cantor Fitzgerald is a market maker in (NFLX)
Cantor Fitzgerald is a market maker in (GOOG)
Cantor Fitzgerald is a market maker in (AAPL)
Cantor Fitzgerald is a market maker in (BAC)
Cantor Fitzgerald is a market maker in (AMZN)
Cantor Fitzgerald is a market maker in (CBOE)
Cantor Fitzgerald is a market maker in (WFC)
Cantor Fitzgerald is a market maker in (IBM)
For Dennis Gartman
Funds Managed By Dennis Gartman and Dennis Gartman own Gold
For Brian Kelly
Accounts managed by Brian Kelly Capital short (SLV) calls
Accounts managed by Brian Kelly Capital own (JJG)
Accounts managed by Brian Kelly Capital long (TLT) calls
Accounts managed by Brian Kelly Capital own (SPY) calls
Accounts managed by Brian Kelly Capital are short the British Pound
For Peter Misek
Jefferies makes a market in Apple Inc.
Jefferies makes a market in Google, Inc.
Jefferies makes a market in Research in Motion, Inc.
For Rich Repetto
** No disclosures
For David Greenberg
** No disclosures
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