Dell Technologies Inc reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal first quarter, driven by slightly higher-than-anticipated revenue and significant cost reductions in previously scarce components.
Reporting just before the bell after its 1Q numbers were released in error, the computer company delivered revenue of $20.9 billion, a 20% decrease compared to the previous year but ahead of analyst expectations of around $20.3 billion.
Dell’s earnings, on an adjusted basis, also crushed estimates at $1.31 per share versus $0.86 expected but a 29% decline compared to the same period last year.
Co-COO Chuck Whitten told shareholders that the company executed well against a “challenging” economic landscape.
“We maintained pricing discipline, reduced operating expenses, and our supply chain continued to perform well after normalizing ahead of competitors. We announced a record number of innovations, making good on our promise to extend Dell APEX as-a-Service capabilities across our full portfolio and simplifying multicloud and edge computing for our customers.”
Earlier this quarter, Whitten noted that Dell was seeing demand weakness from most markets at the end of fiscal 2023, although some industries continued to show growth, such as financial services, transportation, construction and real estate.
“Underlying demand in PCs and servers remains weak and we are seeing signs of changing customer behavior in storage,” he added, referring to the cautious spending from medium and small businesses.
Shares of Dell rose slightly in aftermarket trading, up around 0.3% at $45.60.
Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com
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