and, yes, I realize that's somewhat of a contrarian position today.

The direct-selling giant managed to top earnings and revenue expectations Thursday after the close, thanks in part to robust business sales particularly in its storage line, which is a small percentage of the top line but benefited from a 41% year-over-year sales increase. Total revenue rose 13% from a year ago, a considerably more modest pace from the 20%-plus growth investors have grown accustomed to over the years. Of course, a fat stock buyback in the quarter, which reduced the number of weighted average shares outstanding by 7% from a year earlier, certainly aided profits.

But it wasn't all pom-pom waving, as Dell issued first-quarter revenue and earnings guidance that was lower than analysts' expectations. In an interview on CNBC following the release, Chief Executive Kevin Rollins chalked up the lower outlook to seasonality and fewer business days in the quarter. But the matter dominated the question-and-answer session later on Dell's conference call. Is management just playing it safe with guidance, or is it getting Wall Street accustomed to doing the limbo at a lower level?

"I think it's [management] being overly conservative," says John Coyle, an analyst at JMP Securities, a San Francisco investment bank. "Given that it is the seasonally weakest quarter, the last thing they want to do [is disappoint]. They want to beat again." Good point.

Last year, you'll recall, questions arose about Dell's mojoread: Hewlett-Packard). Gone were the days when Dell could merely manufacture a cheaper box and count on its peers to mess up (well, with the exception of Gateway, which after years is still trying to find its way out of the barn). Dell's misstep prompted the one-time tech darling to tinker with operations something it never really had to do before.

That rocked market watchers and investors alike. In a matter of months Dell went from a PC-making dynamo to an outfit that drew a loud chorus of tsk-tsks from analysts. It's not the kind of swing that was expected by anyone, least of all myself. The trouble, of course, was that Dell investors had grown comfortably accustomed to exceptional execution and market-share devouring. After feasting on the company's successes for years, a bump in the road didn't just wobble the Dell mobile, it flattened it: The stock cratered 29% in 2005.

And yet I'm encouraged as only a contrarian can be. Here's how I see it: Yes, Dell's growth is slowing. This is an enormous company that's benefited from high growth for years. Like all high-growth tech companies, that doesn't last forever. But Dell is still growing faster than the broad industry. During its conference call, management asserted that it increased market share in every region of the world. What's more, thanks to higher-end products, there was some progress in U.S. consumer sales the segment that bore the brunt of last year's pain.

yes, it is hasn't been baked into the stock price already.

Prior to Dell's results, the stock had tacked on about 6% this year. Yet it trades at a price/earnings multiple of 18. Sure, that's more than the Standard & Poor's 500's nearly 16 multiple. But let's put it into perspective a bit: Dell's multiple is only a smidge higher than Gateway's P/E of 16, and Gateway is fractionally as profitable as Dell. I'd say Dell's valuation discounts an ample amount of ugliness.

Friday was shaping up to be a bumpy ride for Dell shares, which fell more than 5% in early trading, but that could prove to be an opportunity. Dell isn't exactly what I'd call a company that's on the ropes. Did they mess up last year? Yes. Is the competition stronger? You bet. But it does still benefit from a pretty streamlined manufacturing formula.

"Their model is not broken," says JMP's Coyle. "They've stumbled a little bit. They mismanaged the consumer business, and from a price perspective that's always a highly competitive space with pressing margins." Ultimately, he says, as long as it has access to the technology, Dell's going to be a sales machine.

If Coyle's right, we just might have a turnaround story on our hands.