"Inadvertent error" saves Dell's day on Wall Street

News that Dell beat Wall Street's expectations for its second quarter and is expecting "seasonal demand improvements" for the current quarter was sure to cause shares to rise when Dell posted its results after the close of the markets Thursday.

But a premature release of some presentation materials related to the company's earnings announcement sparked a rally on Wall Street in the closing minutes, sending shares up nearly 7 percent for the day.

A company spokesman told the New York Times that the materials being posted early was "an inadvertent error" and that the company posted its earnings results as soon as it discovered the error - about three minutes before the close of the market.

Shares of Dell slipped in the morning but stayed relatively flat throughout the day and were down less than 1 percent - roughly 8 cents - around the time when the materials were published. Within a 15-minute period, shares rose about 7 percent, closing at $15.65 - a 6.7 percent gain for the day.

Shares continued their climb in after-hours trading, rising nearly 3 percent.