3/24/09 -

09:09 DELL Dell: AmTech discusses Dell's anticipation to gain shares in the consumer space
(10.45 ) -Update-
Broadpoint AmTech notes Dell's CEO indicated to the press that his co can grow faster in the consumer
PC segment in the current quarter than the rest of the industry. DELL has been trying to increase its
share in consumer PCs by increasing its retail presence and redesigning its products for greater cost
competitiveness, so the co's expectation for share gain in consumer is not a surprise. For FY09, DELL's
consumer PC units grew 35% Y/Y versus 18% for the industry. Nonetheless, firm would view share
gains this quarter as an incremental positive as DELL's consumer share appears to have
stalled over the past year. They continue to view DELL as a longer term restructuring/turn-around
story as the co: 1) reduces costs through restructuring activities and product re-designs, 2) targets
growth in higher margin businesses such as services and storage, and 3) expands in the indirect
channel, which should lead to share gains in the long run.

26-Feb-09 17:25 ET In Dell Earnings Call Summary (8.21 -0.15) -Update :

Play
Co's cash conversion cycle remains stable at a negative 25 days
in the qtr. For the full year, cash flow from ops was $1.9 bln.
Mgmt continues to believe that over time, they can generate
cash flow from operations in excess of net income...

27-Feb-09 08:14 ET In Dell: Color on qtr (8.21 ) -Update : Collins Stewart notes Dell's Q4
Play results of $13.4 bln last night were broadly in line with reduced
expectations. Pro Forma earnings of $0.29 were $0.03 better than
estimates on stable margins and expense management. Cost
optimization across consumer and commercial platforms helped stabilize
profitability. Operating margins improved modestly (20 bps) year-on-year
to 5.5% as expenses declined over $400 mln. Dell generated about $730
mln in CFO. While cost management should help stabilize earnings,
demand recovery remains the key for earnings improvement... Needham
saw Dell's quarterly performance was consistent with other leading
tech cos. While demand remains weak across all regions and product
categories, the co has been able to reduce its quarterly operating
expenses 20% yoy, increase its outsourced percentage to roughly 25% of
overall volume, lower its average cost per box by 5%, and returned to
material cash flow generation. With an additional $1 bln in cost savings
on top of the $3 bln plan, firm expects Dell to continue to focus on
operational execution to prepare for the return of demand... Kaufman
notes Dell's quality of earnings continues to be questionable with
$0.11 in one-time items, of which $143 mln or $0.06 were from stock-
based compensation. Excluding this, EPS were $0.23 vs. reduced
consensus of $0.26 (down from $0.28 a week ago). The problem they
have with this is why all of a sudden DELL doesn't recognize stock
compensation when every other quarter it did? Moreover, peers HPQ,
AAPL and IBM recognize stock compensation consistently.

02-Mar-09 02:29 ET In Dell mentioned positively in Barron's (8.53 ) : Barron's reports shares of
Play Dell (DELL) could rebound to $20 if the co can execute on its turnaround
plan. The co has $5/share in cash and backing that out, one is paying
$3.61/share for a computer-wholesaling business that just netted $2.5 bln
or $1.39/share in the fiscal year ended Jan 30. The co could earn $1.11 in
 FY10. The average of these estimates yields a P/E multiple of just under
3

02-Mar-09 07:38 ET In Dell upgraded to Buy at Argus (8.53 ) : Argus upgrades DELL to Buy from
Play Hold. The firm notes that the co plans to continue restructuring and will
focus its growth initiatives on solutions-oriented products that carry
relatively high margins. The firm believes that this should diversify DELL's
business, though the efforts will take time. Still, considering that the co is
moving in the right direction, the firm believes that there is more upside
potential than downside in the stock price.

13-Mar-09 08:51 ET In Dell upgraded to Neutral at AmTech Research (9.44 ) : AmTech Research
Play upgrades DELL to Neutral from Sell as the firm believes the stock is
already discounting the challenging fundamentals the co is facing in
upcoming quarters from weak IT spending and the downward mix shift in
PCs. The firm notes that consensus EPS estimates have essentially
converged with the firms previously significantly below Street est, and
sentiment is notably negative. Additionally, recent data points from the
supply chain indicate PC builds for 1Q09 are tracking ahead of
expectations as of early February, and suggest a return to a "normal"
pattern in 2Q09. The firm is looking for evidence the co can be successful
in expanding to higher margin businesses and/or gain share in PCs
before getting more constructive.

20-Mar-09 08:16 ET In Dell: Kaufman reviews update on Dell's progress on a cell phone launch
Play (4.36 ) : From Kaufman's conversation with supply chain and industry
sources, Dell's cell-phone efforts appear to have a lack of carrier interest
and small subsidies making it difficult for DELL to make a profit. In their
view, the last thing DELL needs is to enter another money losing business
as it aims to preserve its operating margins of 5%-6%, compared to peers
HPQ at 11%, and AAPL and IBM at 15%. Their sources indicate that
DELL remains committed to the cell phone space as it appreciates the
opportunity in smart phones and the longer-term cannibalization potential
of PCs. At the end of the day, they believe PC vendors may have an
advantage over traditional cell phone competitors as a smart phone is
more PC than cell phone with all the computer functionality and voice as
a commodity. Firm is being told that DELL is going back to the drawing
board in designing a cell phone with more differentiation. This will likely
involve vertical integration of some sort including software and/or
services. For this reason, they believe DELL is contemplating making
acquisitions to help in this effort.

24-Mar-09 07:15 ET In Dell says IBM-Sun talk creates business opportunity - Reuters.com
Play (10.45 ) : Reuters.com reports the CEO of DELL said that talk of IBM
possibly buying JAVA was providing an "enormous opportunity" to the co
in the corporate server market. Michael Dell said such talk created
uncertainty over the future of Sun's Solaris-based servers and
accelerated a customer migration to the servers based on standard
industry components, known as x86 servers, which are Dell's mainstay
product. "Just the rumour of IBM potentially purchasing Sun creates an
enormous opportunity because all of the Sun accounts are very
concerned what will happen to the Solaris platform and Sparc
 microprocessor," Dell told a briefing in Tokyo. "I think this accelerates the
migration (to x86-based servers) and sends a lot of those accounts into
an opportunity," he said.

24-Mar-09 08:28 ET In Dell says smartphone to be released on schedule - DigiTimes (10.45 )

Play -Update : DigiTimes reports Dell will not delay the launch of its new
smartphone lineup and is on schedule to release devices in line with its
internal roadmap, company CEO Michael Dell said recently. However Dell
did not publicly divulge any details indicating when products are
scheduled for release. Recent market reports contend that some telecom
service operators were "less than thrilled" with a prototype smartphone
which Dell originally hoped to launch in the first half of 2009, pushing the
company to overhaul the project. As a previous vendor of Windows
Mobile-based PDA devices, Dell's new smartphones are also likely to run
on the Windows Mobile platform, according to sources at Taiwan handset
makers. However, with regards to product differentiation and prevailing
market trends, Dell is also likely to launch Android-powered smartphones
at some point, the sources indicated.

07:55 DELL Dell seeks acquisitions in corporate-data services market - WSJ (10.17 )
WSJ reports the co CEO said DELL is eyeing acquisitions in the market for servers and other corporate-
data services, areas where competition is intensifying between technology industry giants. "We are
focused on data centers, services, software, servers and storage. Those are likely areas for Dell to use
its capital for non-organic growth," Mr. Dell said at a press briefing in Beijing. "If you look in the last few
years at the acquisitions we have made, it really has been focused in those areas." Mr. Dell didn't
elaborate on possible acquisition targets. Mr. Dell also said that the company has seen overall global
demand for its products stabilize since mid-January, after falling sharply from mid-September last
year. "Demand has been pretty steady on a week to week basis since then," he said. "Customers are
going from panic and shock to a more stable pattern."