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

To: Sig who wrote (172425)	2/14/2003 7:37:46 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 176387

Posted on Fri, Feb. 14, 2003 URL:http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/5180435.htm Server sales drive Dell's profit higher ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) - Dell Computer, one of the leading barometers of the global computer industry, on Thursday reported record sales and sharply higher profit in its latest quarter as sales of servers and storage devices surged. The world's No. 2 personal-computer maker said it expects continued strong sales in early 2003. Dell earned $603 million in its fourth quarter, ended Jan. 31, up 32 percent from the $456 million earned in the same period a year ago. The income worked out to 23 cents a share, up from 17 cents in the same quarter last year. The per-share earnings met the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. ``This performance would be outstanding in any environment,'' said Kevin Rollins, Dell president and chief operating officer. ``We have no intention to depart from a very successful strategy.'' That strategy focuses on boosting the company's sales of its non-PC business lines -- servers, storage and services. Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Dell said the company has been pleased with sales of its handheld computers, introduced in November, and it will soon begin marketing printers bearing the Dell name. But he said service, servers and storage are key. ``These are really the more significant engines of Dell's growth,'' he said. ``I wouldn't want you to get distracted with small, shiny objects.'' Geographically, Dell's growth in server shipments was 45 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, 29 percent in Europe and 22 percent in the United States. In personal computers, Dell said it had a 30 percent share of the U.S. market in the past quarter, with home-PC sales climbing 38 percent in the period. Overall, the company reaffirmed its expectation that the current quarter's worldwide sales will be about $9.5 billion, up 18 percent from the corresponding period last year. Michael Dell said the company didn't expect to see impact on that projection should the United States invade Iraq, even as other businesses say war jitters have them holding off on equipment upgrades and other purchases. ``I haven't heard a lot of customers saying they're going to or not going to do something as it's related to'' war prospects, he said. ``Our job is to build a great business . . . irrespective of those things.'' Dell's revenue in the quarter was $9.7 billion, compared with $8.1 billion in sales in the same three months last year. The performance, which the company said was a record for the fourth quarter, matched sale projections issued in October. For the year, the company's earnings were $2.1 billion, up nearly 15 percent from $1.8 billion, or 65 cents a share, in fiscal 2002. Sales for the year totaled $35.4 billion, up from $31.2 billion in the previous year.