Dell sales top estimates in positive signal for PC market

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Dell Technologies reported better-than-expected sales of personal computers and data centre hardware, fuelling hopes of a recovery in the market for corporate technology. The company also said demand for products that help businesses use artificial intelligence (AI) are a “long-term tailwind.”

Fiscal second-quarter revenue dropped 13 per cent to $22.9bn, the company said Thursday in a statement. That exceeded the $20.8bn average projection of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Profit, excluding some items, was $1.74 a share, beating the average estimate of $1.14.

The computer industry has had a difficult year, experiencing a sharp demand slowdown as the pandemic waned. Dell has responded to the changing market by restructuring its sales organisation and cutting roughly 6,650 jobs earlier this year. Dell’s co-chief operating officer Chuck Whitten resigned earlier this month.

Revenue in the computer division declined 16 per cent to $12.9bn from a year earlier, but the figure topped estimates, and the unit produced a better-than-expected sales performance with consumers and businesses.

The results painted a better picture for the market than that from HP on Tuesday. The competitor computer maker cut its full-year forecast, saying a demand rebound would take longer than previously expected.

Dell’s infrastructure business unit reported $8.5bn in sales in the period, which ended August 4, compared with the average estimate of $7.3bn. Servers and networking revenue declined 3 per cent to $4.27bn, topping analysts’ predictions.

One of the servers Dell says is optimised for generative AI performance has about $2bn in backlogged orders, chief operating officer Jeff Clarke said in a transcript prepared for a conference call after the results were released. In May, Dell announced a service in collaboration with Nvidia to help businesses run generative AI in on-premise data centres.

“AI is already showing it’s a long-term tailwind, with continued demand growth across our portfolio,” Clarke said in the statement.

The shares rose about 4.5 per cent in extended trading after closing at $56.24 in New York. The stock has gained 40 per cent this year.

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