. Record earnings per share of 49 cents
. Revenue of $15 billion and operating income of $1.2 billion
. Enterprise solutions and services revenue up 5 percent to $4.4 billion led by server revenue increase of 11 percent
Dell’s strategy to deliver efficient and flexible information technology solutions that are open, capable and affordable continues to yield solid financial results. In the company’s fiscal first quarter revenue improved and profit increased substantially on the strength of its commercial enterprise business.

In the past two years, Dell has made strategic acquisitions to address customers’ needs for next-generation computing solutions, intelligent data management, services, security and cloud offerings. Additionally, the company has announced plans to invest $1 billion this fiscal year to deliver new solutions, build cloud capabilities and add significant numbers of new engineering, development and solutions-based sales resources in the U.S. and globally to support its enterprise solutions and services focus. Key investments include the launch of vStart for faster provisioning of virtual machines, the build out of data centers to provide customers access to public and private cloud technologies, and new solution centers where customers can test their applications.

The strong first quarter results also reflect Dell’s improved profitability in end-user-computing, particularly Dell’s client desktop and laptop offerings. This improved performance is the result of a higher-value product portfolio, good cost management, better sales execution and a significantly improved supply chain.

Results
Revenue in the quarter increased 1 percent to $15 billion, with enterprise solutions and services accounting for 30 percent of the total.
GAAP earnings per share was 49 cents; non-GAAP EPS was 55 cents.
GAAP operating income was $1.2 billion, or 8.1 percent of revenue. Non-GAAP operating income was $1.4 billion, or 9.2 percent of revenue.
Cash flow from operations was $465 million for the quarter and $4.2 billion over the last four quarters. Dell ended the quarter with $15.2 billion in cash and investments.

Fiscal-Year 2012 First Quarter Highlights
(in millions) FY12 FY11 Change
Revenue $15,017 $14,874 1%

Operating Income (GAAP) $1,212 $519 134%
Net Income (GAAP) $945 $341 177%
EPS (GAAP) $0.49 $0.17 188%


Operating Income (non-GAAP) $1,376 $824 67%
Net Income (non-GAAP) $1,050 $584 80%
EPS (non-GAAP $0.55 $0.30 83%
Information about Dell’s use of non-GAAP financial information is provided under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below. Non-GAAP financial information excludes costs related primarily to the amortization of purchased intangibles, severance and facility-action costs, certain settlement costs and acquisition-related charges. All comparisons in this press release are year over year unless otherwise noted.

Strategic Highlights:


Revenue for Dell's commercial business improved 3 percent to $12 billion, with record profitability. Commercial services revenue increased 6 percent.
Enterprise solutions and services revenue grew 5 percent to $4.4 billion in the quarter and represents 30 percent of Dell’s consolidated revenue.
Servers and networking revenue increased 11 percent.
Dell-owned storage technology, which includes Compellent, EqualLogic, PowerVault and DX Object Storage, grew 11 percent in the quarter, offset by declines in EMC storage. The company’s overall storage business revenue declined 13 percent. Dell closed the acquisition of Compellent during the quarter, has already developed a strong pipeline of business and is on track with integration plans for the period.
Dell Services revenue grew 5 percent to $2 billion. Transactional support and outsourcing revenue were up 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively, while the project services business grew 13 percent. Dell also added enterprise-class security capability in Q1 with the closing of its acquisition of SecureWorks.
The company expanded its global financing capability during the quarter with the announcement of its intent to acquire from CIT Dell Financial Services (DFS) Canada Ltd., as well as CIT Vendor Finance ’s Dell-related assets and sales and servicing functions in Europe.
Business Units and Regions:


Large Enterprise had record operating income of $504 million, or 11.3 percent of revenue on $4.5 billion of revenue, up 5 percent from a year ago. Enterprise solutions and services revenue was $1.8 billion, a 2 percent increase. Revenue from desktop and laptop computers grew 7 percent as the client refresh among large corporate accounts continued.
Public revenue was $3.8 billion, a 2 percent decline resulting from weaker spending on desktop and laptop products. Enterprise solutions and services revenue was up 3 percent Server revenues increased 9 percent. Operating income for the quarter was $370 million, or 9.8 percent of revenue.
Small and Medium Business had record profit in the quarter with revenue up 7 percent to $3.8 billion, a two-year high driven by strong demand across all products and services. Operating income was $463 million, or 12.3 percent of revenue. Enterprise solutions and services revenue was up 16 percent, driven by a gain in servers of 19 percent; services of 16 percent, and storage of 7 percent.
Consumer revenue was $3 billion, down 7 percent, as demand was softer than expected. However, profit significantly improved with operating income of $136 million, or 4.5 percent of revenue, benefiting from a simplified brand structure that now includes an improved line of Inspiron, re-launched XPS, and Alienware products, a shift to higher value products, and structural and component cost improvements in the supply chain.
Revenue from growth markets (which excludes the U.S., Canada, Western Europe and Japan) grew 17 percent and represents 27 percent of total company revenue. Revenue from BRIC countries grew 18 percent, with India up 28 percent and China up 22 percent.
Quotes:
Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive officer: “We’re off to a solid start in our fiscal year 2012. Our substantial profit increase demonstrates that our strategy is working and our execution is improving.”

Brian Gladden, chief financial officer: “We continue to build momentum with our strategy to expand our enterprise solutions and services business, and it’s contributing to our strong financial results. We have built an $18 billion enterprise solutions and services business with exciting growth potential and our execution in the core client business continues to be very good. We are positioned to continue delivering value to our customers and investors.”

Company Outlook:
Dell expects mid-single digit revenue growth in its second quarter, which is slightly above its normal, sequential seasonal growth of 2-3 percent. The Public business is expected to benefit from stronger spending among state and local governments and education customers as they close out their fiscal year. The company also expects its Small and Medium Business and Consumer businesses will experience above average seasonality due to the timing of demand for Dell’s Sandy Bridge based offerings, a solid consumer back-to-school spending season and a refreshed portfolio of XPS products. Dell’s updated outlook for fiscal 2012 includes revenue growth of 5-9 percent and an increase in non-GAAP operating income growth to 12-18 percent.