Dell’s Quarter Revenue Expected Close to Estimates

Personal computer and server maker Dell’s (NASDAQ:DELL) revenue and earnings for the fourth quarter are expected to be about $13.82 billion according to consensus analyst estimates and about earnings to be about 27 cents per share when the company announces its quarterly financials on Feb. 18.

Analyst firm Bernstein Research said it expects revenues and earnings per share to be slightly above consensus at $13.84 billion and earnings per share at 28 cents. That amounts to a decline in revenues of 1.5 percent excluding the effects of dell’s purchase of Perot, but up 3 percent including Perot.

Bernstein said its revenue estimate is based on year over year PC revenue declines of 5 percent with units up 9 percent and average selling prices down 14 percent; server revenue growth of 8 percent and storage revenue declines of 12 percent.

The research firm is lowering its revenue estimates for the year to $55.2 billion, which is below the analyst consensus figure of $56.7 billion.

Dell has cut about 5,000 jobs during the first three quarters of the fiscal year, the firm estimates, and Dell will also ultimately take a $240 million to $290 million in restructuring charges related to its Perot acquisition. Bernstein estimates that could leave to more than $300 million in savings.

“We believe this could ultimately prove conservative given our experience with other mergers suggests that annual savings generated are often materially more than 100 percent of one-time restructuring charges,” senior analyst Toni Sacconaghi wrote in a brief report previewing Dell’s earnings.