After months of collapsing demand, better cost controls enabled Dell Technologies Inc to surpass expectations for first-quarter profit on Thursday.

However, a full rebound is still some time away because Dell predicted current-quarter revenue below Wall Street forecasts and cautioned that IT investment would remain conservative. The results contrasted with rivals HP Inc. and Lenovo Group.

After the bell, the company’s stock fell 2%, reversing gains of 5%. When the company released results earlier than expected, the stock was briefly suspended during regular trading hours.

“We maintained pricing discipline, reduced operating expenses, and our supply chain continued to perform well after normalizing ahead of competitors,” said Chuck Whitten, co-chief operating officer of Dell.

During the first quarter, overall operating expenses decreased 6% to $3.57 billion.

According to Refinitiv statistics, the company’s revenue decreased by 20% to $20.92 billion, yet it was still higher than experts’ predictions of $20.27 billion.

After a pandemic-driven rush for work-from-home equipment, demand for computers and laptops fell, causing an inventory buildup in an environment of uncertain economic growth.

Sales fell by 23% for Dell’s client solutions division, which houses its consumer and corporate PC operations, and by 18% for its infrastructure solutions division, which comprises servers, storage, and networking hardware.

Dell earned $1.31 per share after adjustments, vs expectations of 86 cents.

In contrast to projections of $21.2 billion at the midpoint, the Texas-based business anticipates second-quarter revenue to be between $20.2 billion and $21.2 billion.

(Adapted from FlipBoard.com)