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

To: Satellite Mike who wrote (30536)	2/20/1998 1:08:00 AM
From: jbn3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Michael, You sound like a frightened, spamming short! Don't forget to cover. Split and (probably) positive announcements coming. DELLish, 3.

To: Satellite Mike who wrote (30536)	2/20/1998 1:26:00 AM
From: Lazlo Pierce	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

Michael, yes earnings are decelerating from over 100% to 59%, hmmmm maybe in the next few years Dell will only grow at 25 - 30% a year. What sort of P/e do you think it'll be worth then? The street gives companies like MDT a 40, when its growing 15 - 17% a year. I'll worry about it in a few years. Till then :-). As for the whisper #s being higher, and Dell missing it, well today's 10 point gain on top of a nice runup previously should tell ya what the expectation really was. Dave

To: Satellite Mike who wrote (30536)	2/20/1998 11:12:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Respond to of 176387

Hey Man, what a 'fool thang' to say. So Michael how much did you loose shorting Dell, guy? Come on you can tell us, you are among friend here,you hear me. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Courtsey: Motley Fool Feb 19, 1998 FOOL PLATE SPECIAL An Investment Opinion by Louis Corrigan Dell's Earnings Shares of Dell Computer (Nasdaq:DELL - news) jumped $8 5/8 to an all-time high of $121 13/16 this morning after the company showed why it's the envy of the industry and a model of "new economy" operating efficiency. The company delivered breakneck fourth quarter revenue growth of 55%, good for a 62% lift in earnings to $0.81 per share, a nickel ahead of estimates. For FY98, sales shot up 59% to $12.3 billion while EPS vaulted 94% to $2.56. Dell sprang from number five to number three in the worldwide PC sales. To celebrate, the board declared a 2-for-1 stock split, its fifth in the last six years. Fourth quarter sales were strong across geographies, with the Americas up 51%, Europe up 61%, and Asia-Pacific rising 79% thanks to a concentration in Japan, Singapore, and Australia, where the fallout from the Asian economic crisis has been less severe. American sales benefited from a near doubling of the consumer business thanks to the company's burgeoning website, which is now doing $4 million a day in business. By marketing to more sophisticated consumers and avoiding the low-margin "under $1,000" PC segment worked by rival Compaq (NYSE:CPQ - news) , Dell kept its average desktop selling price at $2,000, down 4% from last year but still well above the industry average of $1,296 for PCs sold through retailers. The company's overall average price was $2,600 thanks to 250% growth in the enterprise server and workstation business, which accounted for 11% of sales during the quarter versus just 6% last year. Dell expects more smooth sailing ahead, with the PC industry projected to grow on the high side of 15% to 20% this year and Dell positioned to claim increasing market share. Demand is being driven by an upgrade to PCs using Intel's (Nasdaq:INTC - news) Pentium II processor, with 90% of business-class Dimension systems shipped during the quarter running on that chip, which still claims only 10% of the PC installed base. That good news pumped up Intel $3 1/8 to $90. Yet, Dell's success may not be good news for other PC vendors because Dell has already reached a level of operating efficiency that competitors may never achieve. Implicitly contrasting the company with Compaq, which has been on an acquisition binge, CEO Michael Dell said the company's success has followed from its focus on fine-tuning its direct delivery model. And did it ever. Dell managed to reduce inventories by quarter's end to a stunning seven days versus 11 days in the third quarter and 13 days a year ago. By contrast, Compaq's best effort to follow Dell's lead left it with 24 days of inventory at the end of its fourth quarter. Such stellar inventory management allows Dell to take advantage of falling component prices more quickly, thus offering lower sales prices while still claiming higher margins than its competitors. With the company on a pace to do 52 inventory turns a year and accounts receivable nudged down to 36 days, Dell pushed return on invested capital to 217% (annualized) for the quarter versus 186% a year ago. Although Dell now trades at 35 times the soon-to-be higher FY99 EPS estimate of $3.48, it could very well still be cheap considering that sales are growing at three times the industry pace and Dell can continue to use its cash to buy back shares. Given its own performance, there's probably no better investment management could make.