I'm inspired by the lack of complacency at Dell
Still, margins were stable sequentially and quite a bit better than last year, and there's virtually no dilution or contraction in the share count.
In this day and age when company after company bends over backwards to spin disastrous results into something faintly positive, here's one that isn't satisfied with "pretty good" and intends to do better. That urgency can certainly be explained by the year-long options accounting review, by market share lost to Hewlett-Packard
It makes sense -- Dell is a low-cost provider, built for skimming slim profits off of high turnover, and for passing cost savings on to the consumer. Thanks to years of building this lean, mean operational model, Dell can simply afford to beat the other guys on price most of the time.
And with Michael Dell back in the CEO's seat, after a couple of years of disappointing operational trends, Dell is looking to squeeze its cost structure even further. Every penny counts. It also helps to work in an environment of falling prices on key components like memory, core logic chipsets, and LCD screens, which is exactly where we are today and have been for a few quarters.
What's bad for Micron
Further Foolishness:
- Back-to-School Hell for Dell
- Pigs Land in Round Rock
- This Is When You Sell
- Foolish Forecast: Inscrutable Dell
Dell is both a Motley Fool Inside Value pick and a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation.
Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any of the companies discussed here, though he did write this article on an HP laptop. You can check out Anders' holdings if you like, and Foolish disclosure helps you stay hungry with desire. Just don't explode.