So much for all those headlines over the past two weeks: "Tech is a ticking time bomb." "Market falls on tech warnings." Garbage.
Sure, a few companies have reported crummy news recently, such as Red Hat's (NASDAQ:RHAT) restatement, Unisys' (NYSE:UIS) miss, Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) inventory swell, and Lexar's (NASDAQ:LEXR) margin malaise.
But unless you are invested in some kind of industry-tracking fund, you don't purchase sectors, you purchase companies. What the heck does one networking chip manufacturer's screw-up say about a computer maker's profitability? Zilch.
That's the real lesson to take away from Dell's (NASDAQ:DELL) guidance release today. Despite the financial media's howling about an impending tech downturn, this PC maker revised its second-quarter earnings guidance up from $0.29 per share to $0.31, which should represent a 29% increase over the prior-year period. Only half that gain will be owed to increased profitability, however -- the other penny is the result of a lower tax rate.
Still, the markup should give faith to holders of the recent Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick. Sure, this is no longer a fast-growth tech upstart, but with $4.5 billion in cash, a solid record of earnings growth, success with new products like MP3 players, and a one-point gain in PC market share, this is no languishing titan, either.
- Check out the real risks in tech.
- Read about Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) juicy quarter.
- Will AMD (NYSE:AMD) and Dell make strange bedfellows?
Fool contributor Seth Jayson has no position in any company mentioned. View his Fool profile here.
