Slash LaneDell on Monday said it will delay filing its second quarter fiscal report due to an ongoing informal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over previously disclosed accounting irregularities.
"Investigations have indicated the possibility of misstatements in prior financials, but Dell hasn't determined the materiality," UBS analyst Ben Reitzes told his clients on Monday. "We believe the delay adds another layer of concern to the Dell story."
According to Reitzes, Dell also postponed its analyst day for the second time this year. However, he said the meeting, which had been scheduled for Wednesday, was unlikely to have revealed any new turnaround plans. Instead, Reitzes believes it will take some time before Dell can effectively implement changes that would yield material improvements.
"With the market being driven by overseas, consumer and notebooks (areas where Dell is not advantaged), we do not see any turnaround near-term," he wrote in a research note. "We believe Buy-rated competitors such as HP, Apple and Sun are better positioned to take advantage of dynamics and deliver improving fundamentals over the next year."
The Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said it plans to file its second quarter report "as soon as possible."
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22 Comments
Looks like big business is just corrupt. Doesn't matter if it's Dell, Microsoft, Intel, or....... Apple
Baloney. If that many companies got it wrong, it sounds more like the law was unclear, and the rules changed.
First I must add the obligatory DELL IS TEH DOOM3D!!!111!!111
I totally agree with SpamSandwich, the law was unclear and the law changed several times over the time period in question. This makes me feel better about the Apple situation as well because since the problem is so widespread, the punishments which are handed out will be small. If it were only one or two companies, they could afford to make an example, but when it is an entire industry, there is no way that the SEC will risk panic by imposing unduly harsh penalties such as jail time.
I again state that they will find Mr. Jobs clean as a whistle, he refused large grants of stock and options so many times that there is no way he would risk doing something illegal for personal gain when he could have very easily just have accepted the larger awards which the board was trying to give him. Shareholders who are suing Apple are idiots, when Jobs came aboard, the market cap was about 2 Billion, now it is above 60 Billion. If any CEO in the country deserves huge (Insanely Great) compensation, it is Steve Jobs. I am a long time Apple shareholder and I feel that Steve Jobs is worth every penny and I am sure that the other real shareholders (not day traders, etc.) feel the same way.
Baloney. If that many companies got it wrong, it sounds more like the law was unclear, and the rules changed.
Actually, they know what they are doing. There are legal ways of doing this, and illegal ones. They can backdate some options. But the main problem is that they can't lie about it to gain a tax advantage, either for the executives, or the company itself. If that is the problem, and it certainly seems so, then it is a big problem. The same problem Brocade has found itself in.
Apple seems to be in the same boat there, but we don't know if they are near the hole where the water is coming in.
Dell's other problems shouldn't be echoed at Apple, as even their own foward looking financial statement mentioned Apple as a company better positioned, for now, than Dell to grow share.
Apple seems to be in the same boat there, but we don't know if they are near the hole where the water is coming in.
I like that... a lovely turn of phrase.