Dell Outdoes Itself, Scores Revenues of $15.5 Billion

Even with all the supposed economic hardships in Europe, and in spite of how tablets have finally started to affect netbook sales, Dell did little but surge, financially, during the second quarter of fiscal year 2011, even increasing its revenues, on-year, by 22%, for a total of $15.6 billion.

According to recent reports, ASUS adjusted its netbook forecast downwards, because tablets are supposedly harming its shipments.

Between this phenomenon and the troubling situation in Europe, analysts were careful in predicting the general outcome of the past quarter.

Still, Dell managed to overcome even those estimates, exceeding expectations by roughly $0.3 billion, putting the total revenues for the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2011 at $15.5 billion.

The best-performing business outlets were the Large Enterprise, Public and Small and medium Business groups.

These reported sequential revenues increases of 38%, 21% and 25%, respectively, and compensated for the fact that the consumer unit did not post any gains during this period.

Overall, net income was of $545 million (15% up), while the operating income grew 11%, to $745 million on a GAAP basis in year-over-year comparisons.

"We continue to strengthen our portfolio of data center solutions at an aggressive pace with the addition of key IP, talent and technology," said Dell CEO Michael Dell.

"This quarter's results are a strong reflection of the progress we've made, and we remain very focused on delivering the best possible solutions and services to meet our customers' IT needs."

For the third quarter of FY 2011, Dell hopes to further improve its sales, even if only slightly, and is counting on seasonal improvements.

The federal government sales and commercial business should turn out to be the most profitable ventures during this time, as the outfit expects a corporate client refresh. Demand should stay strong during the next several quarters as well.