Dell shares fall on earnings disappointment

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Shares of Dell dropped in after-hours trading Thursday after the computer maker said its fourth-quarter profit fell 6.5%, due in large part to a number of charges it took during the period.

Looking ahead, Dell said continued restructuring charges and lower customer spending could further hurt its business.

In a call Thursday after the company's earnings statement was released, chief executive Michael Dell said the company saw "decent" growth domestically and "robust" growth outside the U.S., but he added "I wouldn't be surprised if the U.S. is our slowest-growing region certainly for the next couple of quarters, given what we see going on in the economy."

The United States represented 51% of Dell's sales in the 4th quarter, according to the company's earnings report.

Quarterly net income totaled $679 million, or 31 cents per share, compared with $726 million, or 32 cents per share a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of 36 cents per share, but their estimates typically factor out one-time charges.

Revenue rose 10.5% to $15.99 billion from $14.47 billion last year. Analysts expected $16.27 billion.

Charges included $83 million related to acquisitions, $54 million from restructuring and $27 million in investigation costs.

Net income for the full year grew 14% to $2.94 billion, or $1.31 per share. Revenue grew 6% to $61.13 billion.

Responding to questions about when the company's profitability would be able to match that of its competitors. Dell said, "There's a lot of cost to take out" but said he was not ready to give a specific date.

"The company is trying to solve multiple problems at the same time," said analyst Richard Kugele of Needham & Company. Dell remains a strong company, he said, but "it's not the Dell of 1998, and that's what people have to get used to."

Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) said its sales were driven by a 71% boost in notebook shipments to Asia. Rival HP (HPQ, Fortune 500) also saw a much larger increase in revenue from notebooks over desktops in its fiscal first quarter. Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) saw more growth of desktop sales than laptops, in its fiscal first quarter, but portable computers sales were still significantly higher.