UPDATED: Dell’s accounting woes continued
this week as the company said it would again delay filing third quarter
earnings results due to the ongoing investigations into its finances.
In conjunction with the delay, the computer maker today also acknowledged
that it received a notice of possible delisting from the Nasdaq stock market
for failure to report Q3 earnings.
The warning comes three months to the day after Dell received a delisting warning
from the market for failure
to report Q2 earnings, which it still has yet to do.
Dell said it is delaying its Q3 10-Q form because of questions raised in the
investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S.
Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Dell’s audit committee
into the possibility of financial misstatements.
The investigations are examining certain accounting and financial reporting
issues, including issues relating to reserves and other balance sheet items
that may affect the company’s previously reported financial results, Dell
said in an SEC filing.
Dell said no decision has been made as to whether restatements of prior
period financial statements will be required. The company also said it could
not predict the extent or significance of any such changes, which could
materially affect previously announced results.
The latest delays comes a month after the computer maker first announced a Q3 earnings delay and confirmed the SEC was probing the company on its
financial reporting.
Days later, Dell reported preliminary Q3 results, announcing revenue of
$14.4 billion, operating income of $824 million, and earnings per share of
30 cents, all greater than results from the year-ago period.
After the first Q3 delay, Goldman Sachs said in a report the series of
miscues by Dell makes management changes a possibility despite the fact that
Chairman Michael Dell has repeatedly stood by CEO Kevin Rollins.
To be sure, the company has not officially reported fiscal earnings since
announcing a disappointing Q1 in May, when it reported revenue of $14.2
billion and earnings of 33 cents per share versus the originally expected
$14.2 to $14.6 billion sales and earnings per share of 36 to 38 cents.
The latest delay and delisting warning didn’t help Dell’s stock; the company
closed at $26.53, down 34 cents on the day.