Dell surges on international sales

Overseas markets boosted Dell's sales, helping it ride out falling demand in the US commercial sector last quarter. The company exceeded Wall Street's expectations, which sent its shares up by 9%. Some analysts are cautiously predicting that Dell's fortunes are finally on the turn.

However, the share price is still 15% less than it was six months ago and the company is still in the process of axing the 8,900 jobs it promised to shed last year.

On the up side, international sales surpassed those in the US, for the first time in the company's history. With especially strong growth coming from Brazil, Russia, India and China (which between accounted for 9% of all sales), overall overseas sales were up 58%. Clearly there is a lot more potential growth.

Founder Michael Dell, who took on the CEO's role again last year, said, "This marks the first time in more than two years that we have outgrown the industry in all regions."