Michael Dell Steps Up to the Mic

Dell shares finished Wednesday's regular session up 3.9%, or $1.05, to $27.69, in keeping with the day's broad stock market rally.

Wu expects Dell to beat the average analyst expectation of $15.3 billion in revenue -- a 6% year-over-year increase -- and 35 cents in EPS.

The latest report from industry research firm Gartner suggests that Dell's server sales are in good shape. And healthy demand for PCs has benefited virtually every company that's directly involved in the computing business, such as Intel(INTC Quote), H-P and Seagate(STX Quote) -- a good omen for Dell.

Still, much of the recent PC growth is coming from consumer notebooks and emerging markets overseas, two of Dell's weak spots.

And despite the return of Michael Dell, the company appears to be struggling to get its consumer PC business back on track: In its second-quarter report, Dell said its U.S. consumer revenue plunged 27% year over year, with notebook unit shipments down 38%.

"The demand for our products deteriorated due to price competition and decreased product appeal," Dell acknowledged in the filing.

Dell has made various moves to rejuvenate the consumer PC business, busily striking distribution deals with Wal-Mart(WMT Quote) and Staples(SPLS Quote), and introducing notebook PCs with new features and snazzy colors.

The progress, or lack thereof, of these consumer initiatives will be among the key questions for investors Thursday.