'Fast Money' Recap: Dell's Big Surprise

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The markets scratched out a gain Thursday on light volume.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.11, or 0.39%, to 9580.63, while the S&P 500 was up 2.86, or 0.28%, to 1030.98. The Nasdaq added 3.30, or 0.16%, to 2027.73.

Jim Goldman said on CNBC's "Fast Money" TV show shares of Dell(DELL Quote) were up in after-hours trading after it delivered a "one-two punch" when it beat analysts' expectations on revenue and earnings.

He said the company benefitted from cost-cutting and improving business conditions. He said gross margins were 18.7%, a full percentage point above analysts' expectations.

For a breakout of some stocks from a recent "Fast Money" TV show, check out Dan Fitzpatrick's "3 Stocks I Saw on TV."

3 Stocks I Saw on TV

Goldman said CEO Michael Dell was pretty optimistic on the conference call. He said Dell believes customers will fall in love with PCs again and anticipates a "big refresh" through the balance of 2010 that will come from a new product cycle that includes Windows 7 and a new processor from Intel(INTC Quote).

Guy Adami was impressed with Dell's earning report. However, he said it's time to get out of the stock and move into Hewlett Packard (HPQ Quote), which he said is "much cheaper."

Pete Najarian said he isn't surprised that people are saying the market has "stalled." He said they should realize the S&P has gone up 400 points in the past quarter. Joe Terranova said the market is trading perfectly, bouncing back after the hitting the resistance level of 1010.