Dell's A-Ringing

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NEW YORK: Dell is hot. The mail-order computer maker wowed the after-hours market world Wednesday with reported earnings of 81 cents for the fourth quarter, a full four cents higher than the analyst estimate and a whopping 52 percent hike over last year.

The company's highest-earning market was Asia, where other tech blue-chippers have had troubles recently. Consumer business in the Americas has nearly doubled since last year. Across the board, from high-end orders to over-the-Internet sales, business is booming. And shareholders, already in ecstasy after watching the stock jump 30 points since January, can look forward to another treat: Dell also announced a stock split for March 6.

But that doesn't mean it's time to sell. "Gangway, everybody. Here comes Dell," writes FORTUNE senior writer Andrew Serwer in FORTUNE Business Report. "There's so much more market share to be had, and it doesn't even have to take it from Compaq, IBM or Hewlett Packard." Serwer says Dell is poised for another major run.