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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rudedog who wrote (146912)	11/10/1999 7:32:00 PM
From: Walcalla	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Sorry if this has been posted already. Tech Report: Dell expected to deliver on earnings Updated 5:19 PM ET November 10, 1999 Current quotes (delayed 20 mins.) DELL 41 7/16 7/8 (2.16%) CPQ 22 1 1/4 (6.02%) ROUND ROCK, Texas (CBS.MW) -- Dell Computer will report third-quarter earnings Thursday with most analysts on Wall Street predicting that the high-tech bellwether isn't likely to spring any surprises on investors, despite increases in memory pricing. Analysts surveyed by First Call expect the company to deliver a third-quarter profit of 18 cents a share. The No. 1 direct-sales computer giant (DELL) earned $384 million, or 28 cents a share in the year-ago period and $507 million, or 19 cents in the second quarter. Revenue in the year-ago third quarter was $4.8 billion and $6.1 billion in the second quarter. Shares of Dell Computer (DELL) rose 7/8 to close at 41 7/16 Wednesday, but are off about 25 percent from a 52-week high of 55 achieved in early February. Don Young, an analyst at PaineWebber expects the company to earn the expected 18 cents a share with revenue of $6.8 billion. Analyst Kurt King at Banc of America Securities reiterated his "buy" rating on Dell and $56 per share price target. He also anticipates Dell earning 18 cents a share. "We would be surprised if Dell had any additional 'skeletons in the closet' to reveal in Q3 and expect that the company will deliver results close to management's guidance," Young wrote in a research note to clients. Warning leads to disappointment Analysts' and investors' hopes waned momentarily in mid-October, when Dell issued a warning that said increases in memory pricing were likely to take a toll on third-quarter profits.The company said memory prices had grown as much as 25 percent over previous figures. While the Round Rock, Texas-based company said it was taking action to lower overall memory consumption for what it considered to be a short-term problem, it conceded that operating margins could be pinched. Banc of America's King said, though, that dynamic random access memory (DRAM) pricing has stabilized. "They're definitely not in the position right now where there's a lot of worry that it's going to change the strength of the company at this point," said John Brown director of research at International Data Corp. (IDC). "They've put together a strong package of products from the low end all the way up to high end to cover margin issues." The company does seem to be making ardent strides in sales of its personal computers. A recent study from IDC showed a broad-based jump in PC sales with Dell increasing its market share to 18 percent from 14 percent in the year-ago period. Also a boost, Dell outpaced Compaq Computer (CPQ) as the leading vendor of personal computers in the United States during the third quarter as its shipments grew 58 percent from last year. "They've [Dell] pulled everything together and they get a shining star for performance in every region right now," Brown said. He added that Dell is constantly looking forward and trying to be where the market's going to be, instead of waiting for the market to tell it where they need to be.

To: rudedog who wrote (146912)	11/10/1999 8:35:00 PM
From: jim kelley	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 176387

Dog, The truth is that we do not know how well DELL is going to do this quarter. There are too many variables both in their evolving business model, their component costs, and their unit sales to draw such EPS conclusions. Nevertheless, the company is doing exceptionally well. IMO it is best to leave it at consensus estimates which are now 18 cents per share and hope for the best. It is also not advisable to completely ignore Meredith's comments in October. If one looks at the IDC numbers, they seem to imply that DELL will post earnings of at least 7.2 B. Drew Swiss has suggested that the sales could be even higher if the consumer promotions were really that successful. This is true! The revenue could be higher. The problem is we do not know. Most of the analysts are using 6 month old data in their statements and are expecting publicly 6.6 to 6.8 B in revenue. As I mentioned these are very old projected revenues. I think it is more prudent to simply wait and see what numbers DELL posts. I am confident it will be a very strong revenue showing. Perhaps even a watershed inflection point for the company. But I am not sure what their added costs were this quarter due to the component dislocations. My guess is that DELL will post better than current expectations. Again, IMO setting the bar for DELL at the maximum possible level is ill advised and serves no good purpose. But keep trying... :)