Michael Dell (Dell Technologies)
Dell Technologies has posted a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly revenue and beat profit estimates on robust demand for its notebooks and software products for remote work and online learning.
Shares of the company were up two per cent in trading after the bell.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rapid shift to cloud, spurring demand for products that allow organisations to carry on, even as millions of people around the globe work from home to stay safe, and schools to hold virtual classes.
Orders for Dell from the education sector jumped 24 per cent in the second quarter ended July 31, and government orders rose 16 per cent. The company also saw an uptick in demand for its gaming systems, including Alienware as more people turned to gaming during stay-at-home orders.
Revenue from the company's biggest segment that includes desktop PCs, notebooks and tablets fell 4.6 per cent to US$11.20 billion, and data center sales dropped 4.8 per cent to US$8.21 billion as companies directed their spending towards remote work, Dell said.
Its software unit VMware, which has directly benefited from the shift to cloud, posted a 9.7 per cent rise in revenue to US$2.91 billion. Dell said in July it was planning to spin off its 81 per cent stake in the unit.
The company's total revenue slid 2.7 per cent to US$22.73 billion from a year earlier, but edged past analysts' average estimate of US$22.52 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Excluding items, Dell earned US$1.92 per share, beating estimates of US$1.40 per share. Net income fell to about US$1.10 billion, or US$1.37 per share, from US$4.23 billion, or US$4.47 per share.
(Reporting by Neha Malara in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
