Dell, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: DELL) latest latest quarterly results released after the bell Thursday pretty much sucked. The second-largest computer manufacturer in the world saw net income drop by almost 50% as shipments dropped globally and Dell continued to see huge challenges in the IT spending market. Dell did not even match its already-lowered expectations. It reported an EPS figure of 18 cents, quite below the expected 26 cents a share.

Net income also fell to $351 million from the year-ago quarterly figure of $679 million. Dell's CFO Brian Gladden indicated in the conference call to investors that a dramatic slowdown was seen in India and China, further exacerbating consumer and business spending reductions on its products in the U.S. Although the news was worse than expected for Dell's latest quarter, Gladden kept the call upbeat by constantly mentioning Dell's in-progress cost cuts, with even more to come.

As Doug McIntyre mentioned last week, Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) didn't hit its most recent quarterly numbers amid continuing higher costs during the quarter. The company "has a lot more work to do" -- so much that it seems the one golden boy of cost control is out of sorts with itself. Founder and CEO Michael Dell did say that "we won't grow at all costs" during the conference call. This was directed at the analysts' mosh-pit that expects growth over every other metric. Because, you know, profits are secondary.

Although its retail effort seems to be going well, Dell fights for shelf space and sales with all of its largest competitors at almost every retailer. Entering into retail was not some kind of exclusivity magic shell-game for the computer maker. It has to work long-term, and it hasn't even been a year since Dell entered retail. The company indeed made moves towards "transforming itself" during the quarter (read: cutting costs). But can it continue to expand its business in the U.S. and overseas without washing itself in red ink at the same time? That's the delicate challenge. Unfortunately, top competitor Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is the strongest it's been in over a decade behind CEO Mark Hurd.

Dell went on to say that "improvements in profitability will take some time," and it will continue to lower headcount to reduce overall costs in addition to designing market-leading notebook PCs for consumers. Both strategies are paying off: one on the costs side and one on the revenue side. Then again, another huge challenge is increasing sales outside the U.S., where Hewlett-Packard currently enjoys roughly two-thirds of its sales. As such, a downturn in any particular market insulates HP from sagging results with the breadth of global sales it has. If Dell can also achieve that level of padding, any consumer downturn that could happen this summer won't hurt nearly as much.

Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) rolled out its Q3 numbers after the bell this afternoon, and they were in-line with expectations. The analyst crowd had pegged Dell with a $0.35 EPS for the Q3 period, and the company saw an actual of $0.34 for the quarter, missing consensus estimates by a penny. Will the market punish it after hours? So far, yes -- Dell shares are down to $26.29 in after-hours trading after completing the trading day at $28.14.

Dell's Q3 revenues were $15.6 billion, up 9% from the year-ago quarter, with operating income at $829 million (up 13% year over year). In addition, the world's second-largest computer maker saw $1 billion in cash from its operations, along with growing its business in the Americas 7%. By contrast, Dell's international operations grew much larger than that: EMEA business grew 14% while the Asia Pacific region saw 18% growth gains.

Dell has spent $103 million YTD on acquisitions, which include Silverback, Zing, ASAP, EqualLogic and Everdream. Dell, in other words, is trying to make up for lost ground using a string of smaller acquisitions. This was not the company's strategy about 24 months ago, but times have changed. If you'd like to see all the details currently being presented in the Q3 conference call, visit this link (PDF download).

Computer maker Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is set to reveal Q3 earnings this Thursday. As such -- and for the first time since taking over the CEO post this past January -- CEO and company founder Michael Dell will be judged on his ability to get his company back on sales and profit tracks. Those tracks will be compared to the astounding success Mark Hurd has had while leading competitor Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) to greater profits, sales and operational efficiency during all of 2007.

Although prior quarters have been under Michael Dell's watch as well, the accounting scandal that rocked the company for nearly two years is pretty much over (although internally the SEC probe still lingers) and the company really has had several quarters now to implement rebound strategies and make the company grow again. Dell re-entered the retail space this summer to augment its direct-only sales model and make it more competitive with Hewlett-Packard, and a resurgent Acer in the consumer category. Additionally, it's made a stab into colored laptop products for the trend-conscious consumer crowd.

Dell's Q3 numbers are expected to land at an earnings figure of $0.35 per share, which would be a lift from the $0.30 EPS figure from the year-ago quarter. Expected revenue stands at $15.34 billion for the quarter as well, compared to $14.38 billion in 2006. Can Dell match (or beat) those expectations?

Most likely, yes. In the meantime, Hewlett-Packard won't stand still and will continue to slap Dell all around with growth rates in the mid-double figures, according to the company's guidance. Dell may grow slowly but surely, but its main competitor is still going for the jugular -- and winning.

With all the hubbub about Dell Inc.'s (NASDAQ:DELL) poor performance over the recent calendar year, will the world's second-largest PC manufacturer turn in disappointing performance tomorrow when it releases quarterly results? Competitor Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) turned in what I consider to be absolutely solid results just last week, and during the middle of 2006 it over took Dell as the world's largest PC maker. HP also has its hands in many other profitable areas where Dell does no operate (printer/imaging and services.)

With that said, the consensus on the Street for Dell's latest quarterly performance is pegged at $0.31 EPS, as some analysts have taken higher estimates down in the face of some signs from the computer maker recently.

Yes, former Dell CEO Kevin Rollins was ousted just about a month ago and company founder Michael Dell has returned as CEO. Not only that, but Dell has gone on a hiring rampage and has hired some well-known executives from outside the industry (like Solectron's Mike Cannon and Motorola's Ron Garriques) to help bring fresh thinking into the company as well as help turn around this laggard ship of sort.

The big question I have here -- which I will delve into in another post -- is if Dell will re-examine its current business model and actually try to re-enter the retail store market for goose PC sales. Dell was in retail way back in the early 90s in an experiment, but left that sector and had not been back. Will it come back to retailers like Best Buy, Circuit City and CompUSA? Stay tuned for that one.

Until then, be sure and stay tuned to BloggingStock's Dell blog tomorrow at 5 p.m. EST for the liveblog of Dell's Q4 financial results. Maybe the company will drop a hint or two about its future plans. Will Dell meet, beat or fall short of analyst expectations tomorrow? Vote now.

Also check out some other earnings reports that we're following, and let us know what you're expecting.