Dell Beats Competitors In First Quarter, Rollins Says

During a normally slow first quarter, Dell outperformed competitors by posting a 16% gain in revenue compared with a year ago, according to chief executive Kevin Rollins.

"We're continuing to grow significantly faster than the rest of the industry," Rollins said during a conference call Thursday. "We bucked the trend of about a 3% to 4% seasonal decline."

Dell reported net income of $934 million, or 38 cents per share, on revenue of $13.4 billion for its 2006 fiscal first quarter ended April 29, compared with net income of $731 million, or 29 cents per share, on revenue of $11.5 billion in same quarter a year ago. Dell had net income of $667 million, or 27 cents per share, on revenue of $13.5 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2005.

For the second quarter of fiscal year 2006, Rollins said Dell expects revenue between $13.6 billion and $13.8 billion, and earnings between 37 cents and 39 cents. Overall this "isn't an explosive market, and not quite as robust as last year, but healthy," he said.

Revenue from services, including professional and managed services supporting Dell's enterprise customers, grew 30% year to year. Services and storage revenue directly benefited from Dell's growing server business, which increased 25%, he said.