Dell (DELL 15.87 -0.19) reported Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.23 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.28; revenues fell 14.9% year/year to $12.9 bln vs the $13.18 bln consensus. Sees sequentially higher revs in Q4 vs the +2.7% QoQ consensus. Dell reports Q3 gross margin of 17.3% vs 18.1% Street consensus. For the fourth quarter, Dell expects seasonal demand improvement in its Consumer business, while demand in Public is typically lower during the quarter.

Intuit (INTU 30.27 -0.07) reported Q1 (Oct) loss of $0.10 per share, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.16); revenues rose 2.5% year/year to $493 mln vs the $487.7 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.29-$0.32 vs. $0.37 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $800-$835 mln vs. $832.99 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees FY10 revs of $3.30-$3.43 bln vs. $3.38 bln consensus.

Aruba Networks (ARUN 9.58 -0.24) reported Q1 (Oct) earnings of $0.04 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.04; revenues rose 9.9% year/year to $57.6 mln vs the $56 mln consensus. Co states, "In our first fiscal quarter, we were able to show strong improvements in revenues and gross margins on both a year-over-year and sequential basis. We also generated operating cash flow of $10.5 mln during the period, and ended the quarter with $135.6 mln in cash and investments. The $19.75 mln of cash related to the litigation settlement was paid in November 2009."

Broadpoint AmTech Research upgraded Advanced Micro (AMD 7.05 -0.27) to Buy from Neutral and raised their target to $10 from $5.80 as the recent positive events (Analyst Day/INTC settlement/capital structure) lead the firm to believe that AMD's risk/reward is now compelling. The firm noted that AMD's capital structure improved as a result of INTC's $1.25 bln settlement and yesterday's announcement of debt restructuring actions. The firm believes that AMD's debt of ~$3.7 bln will be reduced by ~25%, while also lowering interest expense slightly less, ~20%.

Speaking at Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT 29.78 -0.33) Annual Shareholder Meeting today, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer highlighted the company's execution over the past year, and announced  sales figures for Windows 7, and detailed the company's plans to continue to deliver shareholder value in the long term. "Windows 7 is the simply best PC operating system we have ever built... Since launch, we've already sold twice as many units of Windows 7 than any other operating system we've ever launched in a comparable time."

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