Dell’s first-quarter sales and profit down

Things are not looking that good for Dell (NASDAQ:DELL)in the past quarter, as its profits were down. The second largest PC maker certainly has a grim outlook, but as they still have $10 billion in cash, it would not take them long to increase their M&A.

Dell investors had hoped that the worst days were behind them, but this is a reality check for them. BusinessWeek reports that Dell’s first-quarter earnings were down by 63 percent, and that sales dropped 23 percent. It is not just Dell who suffered with poor sales; rival HP (NYSE:HPQ) also reported tepid sales.

Over the past three months, shares in Dell have risen by almost 35 percent. Dell hopes that further gains can be made, but only when businesses will start to purchase PCs again, maybe they are all waiting for Windows 7.