Fleck responds... some guys just never learn...
Herb's Hotline: Why Fleckenstein Wasn't Wrong About Dell
By Herb Greenberg
Senior Columnist
5/12/00 12:13 PM ET
Enough about Fleckenstein and Dell (DELL:Nasdaq - news - boards), awreeeeaaaady. Emails predictably overflowing with messages that he was wrong about Dell and that I remain a dope for quoting him. Only, he wasn't wrong (though I may be a dope, but that's for totally other reasons!) You read it right, he wasn't wrong. Go back and read the original column and you'll see that he said Dell would meet estimates for the quarter, which was reported last night. The quarter he was worried about then and is worried about now is the current quarter. Go back and read it! Get yer facts straight before you clog up my email.
Fleck's guess was that at some point before the end of this quarter, Dell will have to guide lower, and he specifically was talking about operating income. Operating income! That's income before investment gains and other padding. (After "wampum" is the way he describes it.) Strip that out from last quarter and you get 16.4 cents, not 19 cents. That's a 4% gain in operating income. Four measly percent! Not even beating estimates by a full penny, as some media report, after subtracting the investment income. Hardly home-run hitting. Says Fleck, "I'm sick of people who don't know anything and then get bailed out by the stock market. Too many people were born on third base and think they hit triples." (Badda-bing.) Don't like what he says? Take it up with him personally when he chats with Cramer Tuesday night at 5 on Yahoo! (YHOO:Nasdaq - news - boards). His only request: "Yahoos need not apply," if ya know what he means.
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