EARNINGS REVIEW
Rapid server growth and weak consumer PCs
Historical earnings report · Management guidance reflects expectations at the time of the release, not subsequent outcomes. The financial comparison uses the site’s normalized dataset, including comparative figures restated in later filings.
Within ISG revenue of $11.6 billion, up 38%, servers and networking surged 80% to $7.7 billion while storage declined 5% to $4.0 billion. CSG fell 4% to $12.4 billion: commercial revenue was roughly flat at $10.6 billion and consumer revenue fell 22% to $1.9 billion.
Assessment · Servers are the growth engine; this is not a uniform recovery across businesses. The next tests are the pace of AI order conversion and whether operating profit and FCF keep up.
01 Business drivers
Within ISG revenue of $11.6 billion, up 38%, servers and networking surged 80% to $7.7 billion while storage declined 5% to $4.0 billion. CSG fell 4% to $12.4 billion: commercial revenue was roughly flat at $10.6 billion and consumer revenue fell 22% to $1.9 billion.
02 Earnings and comparison basis
On the filed comparative basis, revenue was $25.026 billion, operating income $1.392 billion, operating margin 5.56%, and net income $0.887 billion. Non-operating items and tax can separate net earnings from operating profit; the table distinguishes absolute changes from margin-point changes.
Against the previous quarter, the absolute changes were +2.782 B$ in revenue and +0.427 B$ in operating income.
Against the year-earlier quarter, the absolute changes were +2.092 B$ in revenue and +0.198 B$ in operating income.
AI server orders of $3.2 billion rose 23% sequentially while backlog was $3.8 billion. Rising orders alongside a stable backlog require consideration of shipment conversion. Cash retained after investment was much smaller than the sales increase.
03 Cash flow and investment burden
Total quarterly OCF of $1.340 billion less net cash CapEx of $0.636 billion gives common FCF of $0.704 billion. Company FCF was $0.704 billion. Cumulative cash-flow subtraction uses the same fiscal-year start and business perimeter; acquisition consideration is excluded from CapEx.
Dell company FCF measures cash after net capital investment and differs from adjusted FCF excluding DFS financing receivables and operating-lease equipment effects. Consolidated cash flow including financing services is not standalone AI-server cash flow.
04 Liquidity and borrowings
Quarter-end liquid assets were $4.550 billion, interest-bearing borrowings $24.522 billion and net cash $-19.972 billion. A negative net-cash balance denotes net debt. Liquid assets include cash, cash equivalents and verified short-term investments; total accounting liabilities of $85.484 billion are a different measure from borrowings.
05 Scope of disclosed RPO
Verified contractual RPO was $38.000 billion. It represents transaction price allocated to unsatisfied performance obligations, not a demand pipeline, cancellable order backlog or ARR. Revenue timing, profit and cash collection require separate assessment, and other backlog measures must not be added to it.
06 Management remarks in the earnings release
Yvonne McGill characterized the results as “In Q2 our combined ISG and CSG revenue…”. This brief quotation records management’s assessment in the original release; it does not establish review of conference-call Q&A.
07 CFO assessment
Servers are the growth engine; this is not a uniform recovery across businesses. The next tests are the pace of AI order conversion and whether operating profit and FCF keep up.
Quarterly results · CY-aligned view
| Metric · B$ | 2023 full-year total | 1Q FY24 Q1 2023-05-05 | 2Q FY24 Q2 2023-08-04 | 3Q FY24 Q3 2023-11-03 | 4Q FY24 Q4 2024-02-02 | 2024 total of 2 included quarters | 1Q FY25 Q1 2024-05-03 | 2Q FY25 Q2 2024-08-02 | QoQ Δ | YoY Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 88.425 | 20.922 | 22.934 | 22.251 | 22.318 | 47.270 | 22.244 | 25.026 | 2.782 | 2.092 |
| Operating income | 5.411 | 1.131 | 1.194 | 1.539 | 1.547 | 2.357 | 0.965 | 1.392 | 0.427 | 0.198 |
| Operating margin (%) | 6.119 | 5.406 | 5.206 | 6.917 | 6.932 | 4.986 | 4.338 | 5.562 | 1.224 pp | 0.356 pp |
| Net income | 3.388 | 0.637 | 0.489 | 1.052 | 1.210 | 1.884 | 0.997 | 0.887 | −0.110 | 0.398 |
| FCF · company definition | 5.923 | 1.079 | 2.590 | 1.448 | 0.806 | 1.161 | 0.457 | 0.704 | 0.247 | −1.886 |
| Operating cash flow · total | 8.676 | 1.777 | 3.214 | 2.152 | 1.533 | 2.383 | 1.043 | 1.340 | 0.297 | −1.874 |
| Net cash CapEx · common | 2.753 | 0.698 | 0.624 | 0.704 | 0.727 | 1.222 | 0.586 | 0.636 | 0.050 | 0.012 |
| Cash CapEx · Chinese company definition | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| FCF · total calculation | 5.923 | 1.079 | 2.590 | 1.448 | 0.806 | 1.161 | 0.457 | 0.704 | 0.247 | −1.886 |
| Net cash · liquid assets less borrowings | −18.628 | −20.801 | −18.774 | −18.319 | −18.628 | −19.972 | −19.650 | −19.972 | −0.322 | −1.198 |
| Liquid assets · including short-term investments | 7.366 | 7.631 | 8.364 | 8.298 | 7.366 | 4.550 | 5.830 | 4.550 | −1.280 | −3.814 |
| Borrowings · interest-bearing debt | 25.994 | 28.432 | 27.138 | 26.617 | 25.994 | 24.522 | 25.480 | 24.522 | −0.958 | −2.616 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 7.366 | 7.631 | 8.364 | 8.298 | 7.366 | 4.550 | 5.830 | 4.550 | −1.280 | −3.814 |
| Total liabilities · accounting liabilities | 84.258 | 87.018 | 88.335 | 85.834 | 84.258 | 85.484 | 82.913 | 85.484 | 2.571 | −2.851 |
CY denotes the calendar quarter with the greatest overlap with the fiscal period. If the first period has no start date, 89 days before its end is used only for calendar mapping. Financial values are not recalculated into calendar quarters. Incomplete years show totals of included quarters; cash, liabilities, borrowings and net cash use the last period-end balance. QoQ and YoY show absolute changes; margin changes are percentage points. Dashes indicate missing evidence or incomparable periods or definitions. Total liabilities never substitute for borrowings.
Definitions and evidence coverage
A dash means unavailable or undisclosed, not zero. Company-defined FCF may differ from total operating cash flow less common-basis CapEx. Total liabilities are accounting liabilities, not interest-bearing debt.
This report reviews the quarter and comparative figures in official earnings releases and financial filings. Segment descriptions and guidance retain their original announcement-date scope. It does not imply completion of a full conference-call and Q&A review.
Official source documents
- Official earnings release ↗
- Official financial tables / SEC filing ↗
- Official financial tables / SEC filing ↗
- Official financial tables / SEC filing ↗
- Financial filing · 2023-05-05 ↗
- Financial filing · 2023-05-05 ↗
- Financial filing · 2023-05-05 ↗
- Financial filing · 2023-05-05 ↗
- Balance sheet · 2023-05-05 ↗
- Financial filing · 2023-08-04 ↗
- Balance sheet · 2023-08-04 ↗
- Financial filing · 2023-11-03 ↗
- Financial filing · 2023-11-03 ↗
- Balance sheet · 2023-11-03 ↗
- Financial filing · 2024-02-02 ↗
- Balance sheet · 2024-02-02 ↗
- Balance sheet · 2024-05-03 ↗