The company's third-quarter results revealed that year-over-year product shipments jumped 28% (vs. a 2% gain for others in the industry), and that earnings rose 31% above year-ago levels to 21 cents a share. Meanwhile, revenue in the fiscal third quarter was up almost 10% sequentially.

Management also said its put option business was coming to an end, and that it repurchased 13 million shares (at a cost of $594 million) during the quarter.

Of course, no one manages receivables, inventory, payables and accrued expenses like Dell, and the computer hardware maker didn't disappoint. In the third quarter, incremental sales rose by $685 million while working capital fell by $366 million.

This agreeable circumstance was no fluke. For the 10 years ended Feb. 1, 2002, Dell's sales went up by a factor of 35, while its working capital declined, to a negative $3.56 billion from $128 million. When it comes to current assets and current liabilities, Dell is the hammer and everyone else is the nail.

As for the fourth quarter now under way, Dell said it projects earnings of 23 cents a share, a 35% gain over last year.

All in all, an impressive performance -- especially considering that Dell was sailing into the headwinds of a rotten economy. So should you tell your broker to buy 100 shares?

As shown below, Dell isn't cheap. The multiples are based on the four quarters ended Nov. 1, 2002.