Dell Rises After Profit Tops Estimates, Component Prices Slide

By Aaron Ricadela - Nov 18, 2010 9:01 PM PT

Dell Inc., the third-largest supplier of personal computers, jumped almost 10 percent in late trading yesterday after posting earnings that beat analysts’ predictions, a sign of falling component prices.

Profit excluding certain items was 45 cents a share in the fiscal third quarter, Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said in a statement yesterday. That topped the 32-cent average of estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

Dell benefited from cheaper prices for parts and buoyant spending from companies that are updating aging personal computers and servers. The PC maker also held the line on price- cutting to preserve profit margins, said Aaron Rakers, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in St. Louis.

“They’ve put in place a little more discipline,â€