Hewlett-Packard’s latest quarterly results, announced today, beat Wall Street’s expectations and CEO Mark Hurd is raising earnings guidance for 2010. HP sounds downright bullish. Will Michael Dell be equally bullish when Dell announces earnings on Feb. 18? Here are some clues, some of which involve Dell’s PartnerDirect partner program.

Analysts are expecting Dell to deliver revenue of about $13.85 billion (excluding contributions from Perot Systems), up from about $13.4 billion in the same quarter last year, reports AP.

But there’s a side story here — involving Dell’s PartnerDirect channel partner program. Recent anecdotes from multiple partners have painted an inconsistent view of Dell’s partner efforts.

First, the Good News

On the one hand, folks like Five Nines Technology Group are upbeat about storage partnerships with Dell. And PEQ Services+Solutions, which landed near the top of the third-annual MSPmentor 100 report, is working more closely with Dell.

Yes folks. Some channel partners are pleased to be working more closely with Dell these days.

Now, the Questions

But on the other hand, Dell has been mostly silent about its managed services partner program in recent months. There are also clues that Dell made key changes to its PartnerDirect program, effective February 1.

How can The VAR Guy separate fact from fiction — and social media speculation? Our resident blogger plans to speak with Dell Channel Chief Greg Davis on Feb. 19, after Dell delivers quarterly earnings. Stay tuned.

Answering HP’s Quarter

HP’s strong quarterly results will put pressure on Dell to show progress. HP’s Hurd says the economy is improving — though HP’s earnings did show some software and services weakness. Next up, Michael Dell will need to show some progress on Feb. 18. Thanks to HP’s Hurd, Dell won’t be able to blame any potential hiccups on the economy.