Dell (DELL)

Shares in Dell Technology are up 3% in pre-market trading after the computer company reported earnings on Thursday that beat estimates for its second quarter.

Dell posted revenues of $25.03bn (£18.99bn), compared to estimates of $24.12bn, while adjusted earnings came in at $1.89 per share against an estimate of $1.71.

The company reported an 80% jump in server and networking revenue year-on-year to a record $7.7bn, citing growing demand across its artificial intelligence (AI) and traditional servers, which includes those powered by Nvidia (NVDA) chips.

Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: European stocks mixed as UK government mulls four-day week plans

Jeff Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer at Dell Technologies, said: "Our AI momentum accelerated in Q2, and we’ve seen an increase in the number of enterprise customers buying AI solutions each quarter."

Dell raised its annual revenue outlook to between $95.5bn and $98.5bn, up from previous guidance of between $93.5bn and $97.5bn.

Lululemon Athletica Inc (LULU)

Athleisure brand Lululemon reported revenue of $2.37bn in the second quarter, which missed a Zacks Equity Research consensus estimate of $2.4bn.

However, the brand delivered earnings per share of $3.15, which Zacks said was a surprise increase of nearly 8%, compared to a consensus estimate of $2.92.

Meghan Frank, chief financial officer at Lululemon Athletica, said: "Earnings per share exceeded our expectations in the second quarter, driven by better-than-expected gross margin expansion and disciplined execution."

Read more: Stocks that are trending today

Lululemon also lowered its full-year guidance on net revenue to between $10.4bn and $10.5bn, down from the $10.7bn and $10.8bn mentioned in its first quarter results.

Shares climbed 4% in pre-market trading.

Dollar General Corporation (DG)

Shares in Dollar General plunged 32% on Thursday, after the discount retailer slashed its full-year guidance, pointing to "cash-strapped" core customers.

Dollar General said it expected net sales growth of between 4.7% and 5.3% for its 2024 fiscal year, down from previous expectations of 6% and 6.7%.

"It appears to us very strongly that ... this lower-end consumer continues to be very much financially strapped, especially as it relates to her ability to feed her family and support her family," CEO Todd Vasos told analysts during the company's earnings call on Thursday morning.

The retailer said operating profit had also fallen 20.6% to $550m for the second quarter.

Peter Keith, managing director at Piper Sandler, told Yahoo Finance's Market Domination on Thursday that Walmart (WMT) was a problem for Dollar General, saying that it's a "giant vacuum cleaner sucking up a lot of market share," citing its digital strategy as part of the reason.

Ulta Beauty (ULTA)

Ulta Beauty reported second quarter results that missed estimates after market close on Thursday, with shares down 7% in pre-market trading on Friday.

The beauty retailer posted revenue of $2.55bn, compared to estimates of $2.62bn, while earnings per share of $5.30 were also below expectations of $5.50.

Read more: The top FTSE 100 winners and losers of 2024 so far

CEO Dave Kimbell said: "We do not believe these results reflect the strong engagement with our brand, the strength of our operating model, or the performance I know we can deliver over the longer term."

A normalisation of demand post-pandemic and more value-conscious consumers, were among the factors that he cited as weighing on Ulta.

Earlier in August, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) revealed a stake in the company worth roughly $266m as of the end of June, Yahoo Finance reported.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.