Dell to Rewrite Cooked Books

The Dell computer company will have to restate four years of financial data after an audit revealed that executives inflated numbers to meet quarterly goals, firm officials announced yesterday. The adjustments would lower the company's stated net income by as much as $150 million, Reuters reports. But analysts say the news is better than expected, with Dell rising 3 percent in after-hours trading.

"Most of the changes look relatively minimal,” said one analyst, noting expected revenue reductions of 1 percent or less, lower than many anticipated. The figure is low enough to have no “material” impact on company's current balance sheet, company officials insist.The probe turned up many accounting irregularities, mostly in accrued and reserve liability accounts, toward the end of each quarter. (More Dell stories.)