Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) shares are in positive territory Tuesday
afternoon heading into the tech giant's first-quarter 2013 report,
expected out after the market closes. To access the webcast slated
for 5:00pm EDT,
click here
.
The Street is currently expecting EPS of 46 cents on revs of $14.91
billion. Earnings compare with 51 cents reported for its fourth
quarter and 55 cents per share reported in the same period last
year.
Shares of Dell moved 5 percent lower to $16.37 at the end of April.
By comparison, the stock popped 19 percent higher in the same
period last year. Since the start of 2012, Dell is up about 2.8
percent.
Investors might look to peers like Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) or
Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) for a couple of hints as to how Dell might
fare. Microsoft
beat views
amid better-than-expected Windows sales and licenses (good for
Dell). Cisco
barely eked out an earnings win
with its latest report, but guidance failed to inspire buyers.
Data from Bloomberg has 15 analysts at Buy, 16 with a Hold rating,
and two at Sell. The Street's price target average is $19, which
ranges from $16 to $21.50. Over the last 52 weeks, Dell has moved
in a range of $13.29 to $18.36.
Shares are below the 50-day SMA at $16.25 and 200-day DMA at
$15.82. Implied volatility is about 1 percent lower heading into
results, though Dell's volatility is 160 percent above its trailing
daily average for the last year.
Analyst Comments
- Goldman Sachs sees revs of $14.88 billion and EPS of 43
cents, both below consensus. The firm commented "investor
attention will remain focused on gross margins after Dell
reported disappointing gross margins of 21.7% last quarter (below
the prior quarter's 23.1%)." Investors will also likely focus on
Dell's comments over consumer demand.
Recent IDC data also points to 2.1 percent downside on PC units
for Dell in the recent quarter. Goldman noted IDC data is not
directly comparable to Dell since it reports on a calendar-year
basis.
- Deutsche Bank sees revs of $15.0 billion with EPS of 48
cents. Expecting top-line growth to be supported by Enterprise
demand offset by softer consumer PC demand. The firm said, "We
expect margin upside due to favorable product mix (healthy
corporate demand/ softer consumer), greater contribution from
Dell's higher margin Storage and Server offerings (i.e. Dell
owned IP) and a relatively neutral commodity environment/better
HDD supply."
Deutsche sees a healthy corporate PC upgrade trend based on
recent Microsoft data as well as a continued move into cloud
storage leading to server strength.
- Brean Murray Caret & Co. sees EPS of 48 cents. Looking
for a better than expected benefit from its shift into higher-end
PCs with better ASPs. The company is also garnering more software
and warranty revs.
The firm commented, "We're not yet concerned about April PC
demand coming in softer than March because ODM's were expecting
it, although we believe Europe has gotten off to a softer than
expected May."
Stay tuned to StreetInsider.com's
EPS Insider
section to see our analysis of the highly-anticipated quarterly
results within seconds of their release. You can also check out
Dell's past performance at Streetinsider's
Dell's Income Statement
.