Dell Earnings Show Growth, But Miss Estimates

Dell reported earnings Thursday for its most recent quarter that showed a 26-percent gain over the same quarter a year ago, but the company missed Wall Street earnings estimates by a penny per share.

The Round Rock, Texas-based company said it saw revenue of $15.6 billion for its fiscal 2008 third quarter, which eclipsed the average of finanacial analyst estimates, as measured by Thomson Financial, of $15.34 billion. Dell's revenue for the same quarter last year was $14.4 billion.

Dell's operating income registered at $829 million, and its earnings per share reached 34 cents. Analysts had been expecting 35 cents per share.

"We are committed to a growth strategy that includes acquisitions as well as a long-term share repurchase plan, as we transition cash and investments to lower levels while retaining financial flexibility," Dell Chief Financial Officer Don Carty said in a statement. The company has recently acquired MSP tools vendor Silverback Technologies, ASAP Software, and announced it would acquire Everdream Corp., a Software-as-a-Service technology provider, and storage company EqualLogic.

An impediment to Dell's growth during the quarter was its consumer business, which the company said declined by six percent -- even though it earlier this year signed deals with retailers, including Wal-Mart, to carry some of its products.

"We embarked this year on a long-term strategy to re-ignite growth and our Q3 results indicate we're making solid progress through investments in five key business priorities -" consumer, emerging countries, notebooks, enterprise and small/medium business," Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell said in a statement. "Initiatives to simplify IT will drive innovation across all industries, creating new value for customers and shareholders. For consumers we will continue to launch products that set the bar for design, personalization, and price performance -" and we will make them available in more places than ever before."

Dell, Carty and other Dell executives were set to answer questions from analysts during a conference call following the earnings announcement. It is the first time in more than a year they will field questions on its earnings, following a year-long investigation into accounting and financial irregularities that had been undertaken by its Board of Directors.

Among the factors affecting Dell's profitability were $50 million in costs associated with restructuring, and $28 million associated with the directors' accounting probe. The company also cautioned that future quarters could be impacted by extra spending to restructure some of its operations and position itself for new growth opportunities.