Dell on Thursday reported a growth in profits and revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2011, driven by strong demand for the company’s commercial products.
The company reported net profits of US$822 million for the quarter that ended on Oct. 29, up from $337 million reported in the same quarter last year. Earnings per share were $0.42, beating estimates of $0.32 from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
Revenue for the third quarter was $15.4 billion, growing 19 percent from the year-ago quarter. Analysts expected revenue of $15.8 billion.
“Dell is growing in the right areas, and I’m very excited about our momentum,” said CEO Michael Dell in a statement
Over the last few years, Dell has been paying more attention to the enterprise market as it tries to move away from its reputation of being a consumer PC company.
Revenue for the commercial business for the quarter was $12.4 billion, up 24 percent year-over-year. Within the business, revenue for the Large Enterprise unit was $4.3 billion, up 27 percent from a year ago, while revenue for the Small and Medium Business division was $3.7 billion, up 24 percent.
Demand for consumer PCs was “muted,” the company said. Revenue for the Consumer division was $3 billion, growing only 4 percent year-over-year.
The ongoing client refresh and growing demand for enterprise products and services will remain strong in the fourth quarter, the company said. The company is expecting revenue to be in line with, or slightly up from the third quarter, the company said.