tonyt,
While I may not be "pleased" with what Niles most recently said, the difficulty that I have with Niles is that less than 2 weeks earlier he said that DELL had a "fabulous finish" to the quarter, this most recent statement said that they had a "soft finish". (see quotes below). It doesn't seem that he offered an explanation of the apparent contradiction between the two reports. Even if he is right on his latest projection, I would have to ask, what was he doing on his earlier prediction?
Niles on 2/1/99
"Following the close of Dell's quarter on Friday, analysts are checking with their sources to find out how the period shaped up and are concluding that the company had "a fabulous finish to the year," said BancBoston Robertson Stephens analyst Daniel Niles. Niles officially projects Dell will post earnings of 30 cents a share on revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, although he said the company's earnings will probably come in closer to 32 cents to 33 cents a share and its revenue will likely be over $5.5 billion."
Niles on 2/14/99
"We believe Dell's finish to the quarter was soft, leading to revenues of $5.2 billion relative to our $5.5 billion expectation."..."We believe that better expense control and margins enabled the company to reach $0.31."
On DELL WRT a warning if Nile's latest prediction is correct. Undoubtedly, there will be those that would state that DELL should have issued a warning, but I don't believe that with the numbers that we are talking about, it justifies a warning. Reasonable people may disagree with this statement.
Best Regards,
Jim |
