Since founder Michael Dell returned to his computer company as chief executive in January 2007, there have been many promises of a turnaround. On Thursday after the closing bell, investors finally saw results in the form of a higher than expected first-quarter profit.
Robust sales in foreign markets as well as lower costs drove a 4% rise in net income.
Dell (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ) shares shot up 9.5%, or $2.07, to $23.88 in after-hours trading.
The world's second-largest personal computer maker reported that unit shipment growth surged 22.0% in the quarter, despite the fact that the company has seen a slowdown in corporate tech spending, which it forecast will last through the summer.
Chief Financial Officer Donald J. Carty reassured investors that sales of servers and data-storage equipment were holding up.
Net income in the three months ended May 2 rose to $784 million, or 38 cents per share, from $759 million, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue was $16 billion, up from $14.7 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 34 cents per share on sales of $15.7 billion.
International revenue surpassed domestic U.S. revenue for the first time, as sales in the rapidly growing BRIC countries--Brazil, Russia, India and China--expanded 58%. Asia-Pacific and Japan revenue rose 19%, while sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew 15%.
Operating expenses were 12.9% of revenue, down a percentage point from the previous quarter, Carty said. Dell said it slashed 3,700 jobs in the quarter, bringing total cuts to about 7,000 over the past year. The company’s goal is to eliminate about 8,900 positions.
Dell is trying to cut $3 billion in costs by 2011 and is aiming to outpace Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ - news - people ) in worldwide shipments of personal computers.
A multibillion-dollar share buyback program reduced the overall share count by 10% over the past year, the bulk of that coming in the first quarter.
The company was vague about its outlook. It said it will continue to incur costs as it looks to improve competitiveness, cut jobs and invest in acquisitions. Dell said it expects to benefit from improving performance emerging countries, notebooks, enterprise and services.
Dell Impresses With Strong Overseas Sales
Since founder Michael Dell returned to his computer company as chief executive in January 2007, there have been many promises of a turnaround. On Thursday after the closing bell, investors finally saw results in the form of a higher than expected first-quarter profit.
Robust sales in foreign markets as well as lower costs drove a 4% rise in net income.
Dell (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ) shares shot up 9.5%, or $2.07, to $23.88 in after-hours trading.
The world's second-largest personal computer maker reported that unit shipment growth surged 22.0% in the quarter, despite the fact that the company has seen a slowdown in corporate tech spending, which it forecast will last through the summer.
Chief Financial Officer Donald J. Carty reassured investors that sales of servers and data-storage equipment were holding up.
Net income in the three months ended May 2 rose to $784 million, or 38 cents per share, from $759 million, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue was $16 billion, up from $14.7 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 34 cents per share on sales of $15.7 billion.
International revenue surpassed domestic U.S. revenue for the first time, as sales in the rapidly growing BRIC countries--Brazil, Russia, India and China--expanded 58%. Asia-Pacific and Japan revenue rose 19%, while sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew 15%.
Operating expenses were 12.9% of revenue, down a percentage point from the previous quarter, Carty said. Dell said it slashed 3,700 jobs in the quarter, bringing total cuts to about 7,000 over the past year. The company’s goal is to eliminate about 8,900 positions.
Dell is trying to cut $3 billion in costs by 2011 and is aiming to outpace Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ - news - people ) in worldwide shipments of personal computers.
A multibillion-dollar share buyback program reduced the overall share count by 10% over the past year, the bulk of that coming in the first quarter.
The company was vague about its outlook. It said it will continue to incur costs as it looks to improve competitiveness, cut jobs and invest in acquisitions. Dell said it expects to benefit from improving performance emerging countries, notebooks, enterprise and services.
