Advertisment

Dell sees 18% rise in Q1 rev

author-image
CIOL Bureau
New Update

NEW YORK: Dell Computer Corp. on Wednesday backed its outlook for an 18 percent rise in revenues in the first fiscal quarter, saying demand for its computer products has remained strong.



"We're seeing double-digit year-over-year revenue growth in all regional markets and customer segments," Dell Chief Operating Officer Kevin Rollins said in a statement.



Despite concerns among investors about how the war in Iraq might be affecting the economy and technology spending, analysts had widely expected Dell to back its numbers because of those market share gains.



The affirmation that business is on track was reassuring, if not revolutionary, said Bear Stearns analyst Andrew Neff, who rates the stock an outperform. Dell has met or exceeded its initial projections for the past eight quarters, he noted.



"The larger question is, is the industry moving towards standardized solutions?, Dell has a low-cost model that does well in this sort of economic environment but could do well in a stronger environment as well," Neff said.



Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said it expects to report earnings for the April-ended quarter of 23 cents per share, with revenue at $9.5 billion, up from earnings of 17 cents per share and revenue of $8.07 billion a year earlier.



Dell said it sees unit volumes up more than 25 percent from one year ago. Dell confirmed the outlook, which it initially gave on Feb. 13, ahead of a meeting with analysts on Thursday in New York. The company said its executives would reaffirm the projections during the meeting.



Chief Executive Michael Dell said on Wednesday during a presentation to journalists and industry analysts that amid economic turmoil, chief information officers were turning to standardized technology, such as Dell's personal computers and computer servers.



Those computers are based on microprocessors made by Intel Corp., which form the building blocks of what is consider the industry standard for technology.Dell also said that he doesn't see a return to the high-flying technology spending of the 1990s, when revenue soared as companies built up the Internet. But he said Dell's low-cost operations would enable it to do well even if hardware prices fall.

tech-news