The Trouble With Dell's Beat

SAN FRANCISCO -- Dell(DELL Quote) says demand for its new line of snazzy notebook PCs is booming.

The only trouble is that the company can't seem to figure out how to make the notebooks properly.

Glitches in the notebook painting process, as well as a shortage of flat panels, prevented Dell from fulfilling customer orders during the second-quarter, an ironic twist on the company's new consumer slogan "yours is here."

In a sense, this is indicative of the entire overhaul under way in Round Rock, Texas. For every sign of success at Dell, there's an equally glaring reason to be wary.

Dell bulls were crowing after Thursday's earnings, celebrating what they insisted were the first fruits of the PC maker's turnaround.

Dell beat Wall Street's revenue and EPS expectations, triggering some positive notes from the sell side. Goldman Sachs raised its price target on the stock fo $33 from $32. Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley hiked earnings expectations.

But the stock's muted reaction attested to a more cautious view, as investors gauge whether the company has really begun to climb out of its hole.

Shares of Dell were off 10 cents at $28.36 in midday trading Friday.

Sure, Dell beat Wall Street estimates. But those numbers were always somewhat arbitrary, given that Dell hasn't provided financial guidance, or even held a conference call with analysts, in nearly a year.

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