Struggling personal computer maker Dell will report its latest quarterly earnings ahead of schedule in a move likely to spur speculation that the results will be dismal.

The schedule change announced Tuesday means Dell Inc. will release its fiscal first-quarter earnings after the market close this Thursday. The Round Rock, Texas, company had planned to report the results on May 21.

Dell spokesman David Frink declined to say why the company made the switch.

There's high intrigue surrounding Dell's earnings report because the company is trying to sell itself to CEO Michael Dell and other investors for $24.4 billion.

Two of Dell's biggest shareholders, billionaire Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management, have made an alternate proposal in an attempt to block that deal.

Dell's board of directors so far has maintained the proposed sale to Michael Dell and his allies represents the safest deal for the company's shareholders because of a steady deterioration in PC sales.

ASSOCIATED PRESS