Dell reports 15.5% gain in quarterly profit, cites growth in commercial business

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)
Dell Inc. (DELL 11.69, -0.35, -2.91%) on Thursday 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