Dell Earnings Beat Estimates, but Outlook Falls Short
Dellreported quarterly earnings that beat forecasts, but its quarterly sales and full-year outlook fell short of Wall Street's expectations on Tuesday.
After the earnings announcement, the company's shares fell in trading after the closing bell.(Click here to get the latest quotes for Dell.)
“Growth in our PC business was challenging, as we saw a tough macroeconomic and competitive environment, and continued to focus on higher-value solutions in this business,” Dell CFO Brian Gladden said in a statement.
The company posted second-quarter earnings excluding items of 50 cents per share,down from 54 cents a share in the year-earlier period.
Net income was $875 million, down 13 percent from $1.01 billion a year ago.
Revenue fell 8 percent to $14.48 billion from $15.66 billion a year ago.
Analysts had expected the company to report earnings excluding items of 45 cents a share on $14.64 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Dell said it expects third-quarter revenue to be down 2 to 5 percent, a lower drop than Wall Street had forecast. It also projected full-year earnings of $1.70 a share, below the $1.90 that analysts currently expect.
On the conference call, the company attributed the lowered forecasts to the uncertain macro environment. Dell expects continued solid growth in its enterprise business but ongoing challenges in PCs.
Dell has said it plans to slash more than $2 billion in costs over the next three years, primarily from the supply chain and sales group, as it sharpens its focus on the technology needs of corporations.
But it has also been acquiring at a rapid clip to help its broader strategy of diversifying away from personal computers, a market where growth is decelerating asApple's iPad and other mobile devices pull consumers away. It has bought eight companies in the past 12 months, including Wyse Technology and SonicWall.