Dell reported Q2 revenues of $8.5 billion, up 11 per cent from last year, according to figures released by the company late last night.
In a statement issued with the figures, the company said revenue was slightly higher than the company estimated on July 11th, when it raised sales and earnings guidance for Q2.
Per-share earnings were 19 cents, an increase of 19 per cent, in contrast to the same quarter last year when it reported a 4-cent per-share loss.
The figures come as the computer idustry braces itslef for results from other companier which are expected to show sales, in general, down more than 10 per cent.
"There's a fundamental, widespread customer shift to standards-based information technology occurring, because it offers great performance, tremendous flexibility and costs much less," said Mr Kevin B. Rollins, Dell's president and chief operating officer.
"Customers are getting exceptional value, and Dell is benefiting by winning new customers at an unprecedented rate."
According to Mr Rollins, industry shipments should be flat to up slightly from the second quarter to the third. However, he said, Dell's volumes could increase more than 5 per cent sequentially.
The company expects revenue for Q3 to be $8.9 billion, up 19 per cent from the prior year's quarter. Dell's goal is to further improve operating margins, and earnings per share of 20 to 21 cents, an increase of 25 to 30 per cent.
Second-quarter operating expenses were 9.9 per cent of revenue, matching a company record set in Q1.
Improved product mix, lean cost management and lower component costs contributed to a jump in operating profit as a per cent of revenue to 8.0 per cent - the company's highest in seven quarters, and up from 7.3 per cent in the first quarter and 7.2 per cent one year ago.
Mr Rollins said Dell is ahead of plans for more than $1 billion in total cost improvements this year from product design, manufacturing and logistics, operating expenses and warranty costs.
The company generated nearly $870 million in cash from operations during the second quarter. At the end of the period, total cash and investments totaled $8.6 billion.
Shipments of servers and workstations were also up 20 per cent, and those products together with storage systems accounted for 20 per cent of revenue.