Dell reports second-quarter profit of $545 million

Thursday August 19, 2010 – Dell reported a second-quarter profit of $545 million, or 28 cents a share, on $15.5 billion in sales, compared with earnings of $472 million, or 24 cents a share on revenue of $12.8 billion in the same period a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, Dell would have earned $629 million, or 32 cents a share.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had forecast Dell to earn 30 cents a share on revenue of $15.2 billion. For its third quarter, Dell reiterated its earlier forecast for sales to rise 14% to 19% from a year ago, when it reported $12.9 billion in sales.