Dell: Where's the Turnaround?

A year ago, I wrote a column about why Michael Dell -- smart as he might be -- is not the guy who can turn Dell around. I've always had a good relationship with Dell the company and Dell the guy. They could've taken serious offense. They didn't. Instead, Dell handled it in a pretty classy way: They told me to come back in a year and see what's happened.

Well, what's happened is that Dell on Thursday reported quarterly results that fell 6% and missed analysts estimates. Dell's stock, around $30 in November, is hovering around $20.

How long does Michael Dell get to prove himself?

Comments

[fAT]

Well, you gotta understand Michael Dell grew his business in the post-97 tech bull market. He doesn't care THAT much whether he'll be in line, or how fast his stock apperciates...He's a smart fellow who knows he can keep the company going and knows that a customer base changes over time. At the same time, he does have to be conscious of his costs and does have to reclaim market share.

Jeez, if I'd been the CEO, I would be tired as heck of proving myself in the marketplace.

So, to make a long story short and reach my long await break, Dell is hoping that he'll go back up when tech goes back up. My conjecture is that he knows and understands that his CPU's are expensive but also knows that they're a quality product and even if his pricing causes his stock to drop the quality will win out in the end, like it's done for hundreds and thousands of big-name tech companies.
I just hope he doesn't have any stress issues.

[User 118558]

You look at the present status of Dell, so it is easy to complain that it has not fared to well over the past year and with the present market conditions sensing the way it is bottoming out it will take a little longer to make a comeback. A complaint is like a rear end, everyone has one, but a constructive criticism is lacking in your assessment of Dell.

[mathue]

Dell's comeback will take longer than what most investors want. While Dell's commercial/business reputation is largely intact, their consumer reputation is a bloody mess. When general consumers get wind that a brand is rotten it takes years to recover it. If you're buying Dell right now YOU need to think of it as a decade long investment at the minimum as it's not going anywhere in the short or medium term.