Dell's Dejection

But the company's decision to skip the typical post-earnings analyst conference call meant investors remained largely in the dark about how Dell aims to get its get back on track.

"I still think they need to do something radical to turn this company around," said American Technology Resarch analyst Shaw Wu, who believes the company needs to experiment with retail sales in addition to its direct sales model.

While Dell noted that international unit shipments exceeded U.S. shipments in the fourth quarter for the first time in company history, much of that growth was in Europe, notes Wu. Analysts believe the PC industry's biggest growth opportunities are in Asia, where Dell has lost several top executives to rival Lenovo.

Dell also didn't provide more color on the ongoing SEC investigation into its accounting practices. That matter has forced Dell to hold off on filing its full quarterly earnings reports, putting its stock at risk of being delisted by Nasdaq.

Though Dell was given until March 14 to file its delinquent third-quarter report, the company said Thursday that a special Nasdaq council had stayed any future action to delist its stock pending further review by the council. Dell now has until May 4 to provide any additional information it wishes the council to consider as it completes its review.

Shares of Dell were off 46 cents, or 2% to $22.55 in recent after-hours trading.

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