Dell, HP results top Wall St estimates as PC demand rises

NEW YORK • Dell Technologies and Hewlett-Packard (HP) reported results that topped Wall Street estimates, in a sign of strong demand for personal computers from students and workers stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Quarterly revenue from Dell's consumer devices jumped 18 per cent to US$3.2 billion (S$4.4 billion), while HP said it shipped a record 18 million PCs in its fiscal third quarter.

Dell chief operating officer Jeff Clarke said: "We saw strength in the government sector and in education, with orders up 16 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively, as parents, teachers and school districts prepare for a new frontier in virtual learning."

HP chief executive Enrique Lores said his company's notebooks have proved essential during the pandemic. "Rather than having one PC per home, it's having one PC per person," he added.

The spread of Covid-19 has forced millions of people to stay home, giving the PC industry an unexpected boost. After several years of stagnation, 72.3 million desktop computers, notebooks and workstations were shipped in the second quarter, up 11 per cent from a year earlier, according to research firm IDC.

On Thursday, Dell said sales were US$22.7 billion in the period that ended July 31. Analysts, on average, projected US$22.5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The hardware giant reported earnings, excluding some items, of US$1.92 a share, easily beating estimates of US$1.38 a share.

Dell shares rose about 4 per cent in extended trading after the results.

HP said sales came in at US$14.3 billion in the period ended July 31.

Analysts, on average, projected US$13.3 billion. Excluding some items, profit was 49 US cents a share, beating estimates of 43 US cents.

The company also projected that profit in the fiscal fourth quarter will be 50 US cents to 54 US cents a share.

BLOOMBERG