Dell Technologies shares moved 9% higher in extended trading on Tuesday after the computer maker reported results and a forecast that easily cleared Wall Street expectations.
Here's how the company did relative to LSEG consensus:
Earnings per share: $7.04 adjusted vs. $4.92 expected
Revenue: $46.97 billion vs. $44.92 billion expected
Revenue came in higher than every estimate, growing about 58% year over year for the fiscal second quarter, which ended on July 31, according to a statement. Net income of $4.13 billion, or $6.34 per share, increased from $1.16 billion, or $1.70 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted earnings exclude impact from stock-based compensation.
For the fiscal third quarter, Dell called for $6.50 in adjusted earnings per share on $49.0 billion in revenue, which implies 81% growth. Analysts polled by LSEG had anticipated $4.49 per share and $41.42 billion in revenue.
Dell ratcheted up its full-year view. The company now sees $25.50 in adjusted earnings per share on $192 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were expecting $18.92 per share and $172.67 billion in revenue. As of May, the company's 2027 guidance included $17.90 in adjusted earnings per share, with $165 billion to $169 billion in revenue.
Price increases brought on by climbing input costs factor in to the elevated revenue guidance, Jeff Clarke, Dell's operating chief, said on a conference call with analysts.
As of Tuesday's close, Dell shares had gained 236% year to date, while the wider S&P 500 index is up 11% over the same period. The stock has become a popular choice for investors who want to bet on the continuing growth of artificial intelligence infrastructure. In July President Trump, who has bought Dell shares since returning to office last year, again recommended buying Dell computers.
Michael Dell, the company's founder, chairman and CEO, is now the world's fifth richest person, according to Bloomberg calculations.
"There's an old Texas saying I may have just made up...," Michael Dell posted on X after the results became available. "If you keep growing EPS 200%+ y/y something good will happen."
The company's Infrastructure Solutions Group targeting data center hardware posted $31.78 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue, up 89% and more than the $29.61 billion consensus among analysts polled by StreetAccount. In that segment, Dell generated $16.40 billion in revenue from AI-optimized servers. The sum was above StreetAccount's $16.07 billion consensus.
Storage revenue, at $4.85 billion, went up almost 26%. Revenue from traditional servers and networking equipment jumped 122% to $10.53 billion.
"We are seeing a growing trend of customers that require meaningful CPU compute capacity to support AI and agentic workflows," Clarke said. "These workloads are creating incremental demand for traditional servers."
Dell's Client Solutions Group, which sells PCs and accessories to consumers and commercial clients, contributed $15.03 billion in revenue. The number was up 20% but slightly lower than StreetAccount's $15.08 billion consensus.
"One of the things that we did earlier this year is we saw the PC market showing signs of softening in the second half," Clarke said. "We optimized the bits and bytes we have towards the infrastructure business."
During the quarter, Dell received a $9.7 billion contract to provide software to the U.S. military, and AI-centric cloud infrastructure provider Iren said it agreed to buy $1.6 billion in Dell hardware, including servers that contain Nvidia chips.
Dell now foresees $74 billion in AI-optimized server sales for the fiscal year, which would be up 200%. Just six months ago, the company had predicted 103% growth.
