Dell beats Q4 expectations despite poor consumer sales

Dell announced slightly higher-than-expected revenues for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year, which may be the last time it reports its earnings to the Street.

The personal computer maker’s bid to go private led by CEO Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake has experienced its ups and downs. In recent weeks, Dell’s largest shareholders have voiced opposition to the leveraged buyout, claiming the price is too low.

The company did not provide an outlook for 2013 because of the pending deal.

The Round Rock, Tx. based company reported earnings of 40 cents per share on sales of $14.31 billion, which is an improvement from analysts projections of 39 cents a share on sales of $14.12 billion. Cash flow from operations totalled $1.4 billion.

Dell shares rose by 4 cents, or about 0.3 percent, to $13.85 after hours as the report crossed the wires. 

“We continued to execute our long-term strategy in Q4, and realized a 6 percent increase in our enterprise solutions and services business,” said Brian Gladden, Dell CFO in a statement. Gladden added that the “strong balance sheet and cash position” allowed for acquisitions, including recent buy-ups of Quest, SonicWall, Wyse and AppAssure.

The company’s consumer business tanked in 2012 to $2.8 billion, down 24 percent from a year ago. Meanwhile, Dell experienced a 6 percent increase in its enterprise-focused solutions and services business, which includes servers and networking.