Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: TigerPaw who wrote (176146)	11/20/2008 4:27:20 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 176387

Dell Profit Falls 5.1% as Customers Curb Spending Amid Slowdown By Melita Marie Garza Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Dell Inc., the world's second- largest computer maker, posted a 5.1 percent decline in profit as consumers and businesses curbed spending amid the global economic crisis. Third-quarter net income fell to $727 million, or 37 cents a share, from $766 million, or 34 cents, a year earlier, the company said today in a Business Wire statement. That beat the 33-cent average of analysts' estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Sales for the period ended Oct. 31 lost 3.1 percent to $15.2 billion. Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell jettisoned his strategy of only selling directly to customers and expanded into 15,000 retailers just before the economy started to stall. Dell is also spending more to lure businesses in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China as economic turmoil spreads to those regions. ``The downturn looks like it is going to be pervasive and pretty painful,'' Louis Miscioscia, an analyst at Cowen & Co. in Boston, said before earnings were announced. He rates the shares ``outperform'' and doesn't own any. ``The only question is how bad it will be for Dell.'' Worldwide technology spending will rise 2.6 percent in 2009, down from an earlier estimate of 5.9 percent, IDC, a research firm in Framingham, Massachusetts, said this month. Growth in the U.S. will probably slow to 0.9 percent, less than a quarter the pace IDC forecast in August. Analysts had estimated that Dell would report sales of $16.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg survey. This week, Hewlett-Packard reported profit that beat analysts' estimates and forecast growth in 2009, signaling the computer maker may withstand a global recession. Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, fell 54 cents to $9.81 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have lost 60 percent this year. Cost Savings Dell gets about half of revenue in the U.S. The Commerce Department reported last week that retail sales fell 2.8 percent last month, the most on record. The financial crisis is the worst since the aftermath of World War II, said Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank. Michael Dell, who returned as CEO two years ago, has embarked on a plan to save $3 billion a year by 2011. He has cut more than 8,000 jobs since May 2007. This month, he gave workers the option of taking a week's unpaid vacation, as well as offering severance packages to workers who opted to quit. Dell has also limited its build-to-order options and said it would rely increasingly on contract manufacturers, mimicking the production strategy of Hewlett-Packard Co. Hewlett-Packard, which has held the PC market lead for more than two years, also continues to diversify. The Palo Alto, California-based company said in August that it closed the $13.2 billion purchase of Electronic Data Systems Corp. to expand its services business. To contact the reporter on this story: Melita Marie Garza in New York at mgarza4@bloomberg.net Last Updated: November 20, 2008 16:06 EST