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Dell posted sales of $25 billion in the last quarter.
Dream time
Dell
Technologies posted better-than-expected financial results — despite continued weakness in the company’s personal computing business — as the company’s IT spending exceeded estimates.
Dell
also said CFO Tom Sweet will retire after 26 years with the company, effective at the end of the fiscal second quarter. Sweet will be replaced by Yvonne McGill, Dell’s corporate controller, who has served the company for 25 years in various roles.
For the fiscal fourth quarter ended February 3, Dell (ticker: DELL) reported revenue of $25 billion, down 11% from a year earlier. However, the result surpassed the firm’s $23 billion to $24 billion advisory range, and the $23.4 billion Street consensus. Dell posted adjusted earnings of $1.80 per share, at the high end of the company’s forecast of $1.50 to $1.80 per share, and above the Street consensus at $1.65.
Revenue in the company’s infrastructure solutions group was $9.9 billion, up 7%, ahead of the Street consensus of $9.4 billion, with revenue up 5% from servers and networking and an increase of 10% off storage.
The company’s PC division, the client solutions group, had revenue of $13.4 billion, down 23% but well above the Street consensus of $12.3 billion. In the quarter, commercial PC revenues were down 17%, while consumer PCs were down 40%. The result largely reflected higher-than-consensus sales of commercial PCs.
Dell rival
PK
Inc.
(HPQ) this week reported a 19% drop in revenue for its most recent quarter, including a 24% drop in the company’s Personal Systems unit. Sales of HP’s consumer PCs fell 36%, while commercial revenues fell 18%.
For the full year, Dell posted revenue of $102.3 billion, up 1%, with non-GAAP earnings of $7.61 per share.
The company also announced a 12% increase in its quarterly dividend from 33 cents to 37 cents. Dell repurchased $260 million of stock in the quarter, bringing its total for the year to $2.8 billion.
Dell will provide guidance on the January 2024 fiscal year later Thursday afternoon during the company’s conference call with analysts.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at eric.savitz@barrons.com
