Dell Technologies (DELL) Stock on Dec. 3, 2025: AI Server Boom, Analyst Upgrades and a Short-Term Pullback

Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) spent most of late November in the spotlight thanks to a huge surge in AI server demand and upgraded guidance. On December 3, 2025, however, Dell’s share price took a breather even as fresh analyst notes and AI-focused commentary kept the stock firmly on Wall Street’s radar.

This article summarizes the key news, forecasts and analyses published on or around December 3, 2025, and puts Dell’s latest move into the broader AI and PC-hardware story. It is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.

Dell Technologies Stock Snapshot on December 3, 2025

On Wednesday, December 3, 2025, Dell Technologies’ Class C shares closed at $133.63, down 1.71% on the day. That performance lagged a positive broader market: the S&P 500 rose about 0.3% and the Dow gained 0.86% the same session. ^[1]

Key trading details for Dec. 3:

Close: $133.63
Daily move: –1.71%
52‑week high: $168.08 (set on November 3, 2025) – Dell now trades about 20.5% below that level ^[2]
Volume: roughly 5.6 million shares, well below the 50‑day average of 7.7 million shares, suggesting the pullback came on lighter‑than‑usual volume ^[3]
Market cap: about $89–91 billion, down roughly 3% year over year by market‑cap terms ^[4]

Over longer horizons, Dell still looks like a winner that’s cooling off:

The stock is up mid‑teens percent year‑to‑date in 2025, despite a sharp November correction. ^[5]
Over the last 12 months, Dell’s share price has risen around 6–7%, according to MarketBeat’s price‑performance data. ^[6]

In other words, December 3’s dip looks more like consolidation after a big AI‑driven run than a collapse in sentiment.

Fresh Coverage on Dec. 3: From Market Laggard to AI Favorite

MarketWatch: Dell Slips While the Market Rallies

MarketWatch framed the session as a day when Dell underperformed a rising market. The stock’s 1.7% drop contrasted with gains in the major indices, and the article highlighted:

The stock’s distance from its November 52‑week high
Sub‑average trading volume
Ongoing investor focus on whether recent AI enthusiasm has run “too far, too fast” ^[7]

This sets the stage: Dell is no longer a sleepy PC name, but it is also no longer cheap and ignored. Short‑term swings are now tightly linked to expectations around AI infrastructure spending.

IBD: Relative Strength Rating Jumps Above a Key Threshold

Investor’s Business Daily reported that Dell’s Relative Strength (RS) Rating has climbed to 83, above the key 80 threshold IBD often uses to flag stocks showing market‑beating price performance over the past year. ^[8]

However, IBD also notes that:

DELL is not currently at a classic buy point in its chart pattern.
The stock may need to form a new consolidation after its recent volatility. ^[9]

For technically minded investors, the takeaway is that relative strength is improving, but the near‑term setup is not a textbook low‑risk entry.

Motley Fool / Finviz: “1 Magnificent AI Stock to Buy Before It Soars 28%”

A widely syndicated Motley Fool piece, surfaced on Finviz on December 3 under the headline “1 Magnificent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock to Buy Before It Soars 28%, According to Wall Street Analysts”, put Dell front and center as an AI play. ^[10]

Key points from that coverage:

Dell’s market cap is around $90+ billion, reinforcing that this is now a large‑cap AI infrastructure name, not just a PC brand. ^[11]
The article cites an average 12‑month price target around $170, implying roughly 27–28% upside from the early‑December price level. ^[12]
The bullish case rests heavily on Dell’s AI server momentum and growing backlog (more on that below).

This piece is typical of a growing theme in retail‑oriented analysis: Dell is being repositioned as a “picks and shovels” AI winner rather than a low‑growth hardware vendor.

Yahoo Finance: “Is Dell Still Undervalued After Its Recent Share Rebound?”

A Yahoo Finance analysis published on December 3 asked whether Dell is still undervalued after a short, sharp rebound. The article highlighted that:

At a share price around $135.95, Dell had gained nearly 8% over seven days after a deeper 30‑day pullback. ^[13]
Even after that bounce, valuation metrics such as earnings yield and free‑cash‑flow generation still look undemanding relative to Dell’s AI‑driven growth outlook. ^[14]

The tone here is measured bullishness: the pullback may have reset expectations without derailing the long‑term AI story.

Daiwa Capital Markets: Price Target Raised to $150, “Outperform”

Perhaps the most concrete new datapoint on December 3 was an analyst move. Daiwa Capital Markets:

Raised its price target on DELL from $140 to $150
Reiterated an “outperform” rating
Framed the new target as implying roughly 12% upside from current levels ^[15]

MarketBeat’s summary of broader Street sentiment around the same time shows:

16 Buy ratings, 8 Hold, 1 Sell
A consensus “Moderate Buy”
An average price target of about $162.84, implying roughly 22% upside from the $133–136 trading range. ^[16]

Together, these updates show analysts leaning positive, but not unanimously euphoric, with most targets clustering in the mid‑$160s.

Under the Hood: Q3 FY 2026 Results and the AI Server Boom

All of the December 3 commentary sits on top of Dell’s Q3 FY 2026 earnings report, released on November 25 and now fully digested by the market.

Headline Numbers

According to Dell’s own release and subsequent analyst recaps, Q3 FY 2026 looked like this: ^[17]

Revenue: $27.0 billion, up 11% year over year, just shy of the ~$27.2 billion consensus
Non‑GAAP EPS: $2.59, up 17% year over year, beating expectations around $2.47–2.48
Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG):
- Revenue $14.1 billion, +24% YoY
- Servers & Networking $10.1 billion, +37% YoY
- Storage $4.0 billion, roughly flat to slightly down
Client Solutions Group (CSG):
- Revenue $12.5 billion, +3% YoY
- Commercial PCs +5% YoY to $10.6 billion
- Consumer PCs –7% YoY to $1.9 billion ^[18]

Non‑GAAP operating income came in around $2.5 billion (9.3% of revenue), with non‑GAAP net income about $1.8 billion, both up low double‑digits year over year. ^[19]

AI Servers: Orders, Shipments and a Massive Backlog

The real story, and the reason Dell is treated as an AI stock at all, is AI‑optimized servers:

AI server orders: roughly $12.3–12.4 billion in Q3 – a record high ^[20]
AI server shipments: about $5.6 billion during the quarter ^[21]
AI server backlog: around $18.4 billion, up sharply from about $11.7 billion the prior quarter ^[22]

Dell simultaneously raised its fiscal‑year 2026 guidance:

AI server shipment outlook for FY26 lifted to roughly $25 billion, up more than 150% year over year ^[23]
Total FY26 revenue guidance increased to about $111.2–111.7 billion, implying around 17% growth ^[24]
FY26 non‑GAAP EPS guidance centered around $9.92. ^[25]

Analysts at Futurum and Constellation Research emphasized that this performance reflects broad‑based AI demand – from hyperscalers and “neocloud” players to sovereign and enterprise buyers – not a single‑customer spike. ^[26]

Margin Story: The “Real Test” After Record AI Orders

Several commentaries, including a widely referenced MarketBeat piece syndicated across Barchart and other platforms, hammered on one key nuance:

Record AI orders don’t automatically translate into record profits.

Those articles argue that:

AI servers are capital‑intensive, with high bill‑of‑materials costs (notably memory) and complex supply chains. ^[27]
In Q3, ISG’s operating‑income rate improved to about 12.4% of revenue, helped by a richer AI mix and better storage margins, but investors still want to see further scaling without margin erosion. ^[28]
Dell’s AI prowess has to show up not just in top‑line growth, but in sustained earnings power as the backlog converts to shipments. ^[29]

That is the “real test” repeated in multiple write‑ups: can Dell turn a huge AI opportunity into durable, high‑margin cash flow?

Wall Street Forecasts: How Much Upside Do Analysts See?

There is no single, precise “Street target” for Dell on December 3, but multiple data providers paint a consistently constructive picture.

Consensus Targets Cluster in the Mid‑$160s

Different aggregators show slightly different numbers because they track different analyst sets, but they are broadly aligned:

MarketBeat: consensus rating “Moderate Buy”, with 1 Sell, 8 Hold and 16 Buy ratings and an average price target around $162.84 – roughly 22% upside from $133.63. ^[30]
StockAnalysis: 15 analysts with an overall “Buy” consensus and an average target of $164.6 (range $113–$200), implying roughly 23% upside. ^[31]
TickerNerd / MarketBeat‑based data: median target $166, based on 36 Wall Street analysts, with 18 Buy, 7 Hold and 1 Sell ratings; this implies about 22% upside from a mid‑$130s share price. ^[32]
Motley Fool/Finviz: highlights an average target of about $170 from 28 analysts, implying close to 27% upside from early‑December levels. ^[33]

Taken together, these suggest that most major banks and brokers see roughly 20–25% upside over the next 12 months, with a bull‑case target around $200 and a low end near $113.

Quant & Technical Forecasts: More Cautious Near Term

Short‑term, algorithmic and technical services are more guarded:

CoinCodex projects DELL could dip modestly to about $132.92 by December 31, 2025, and $131.94 by January 2, 2026, flagging “bearish” technical sentiment, a Fear & Greed Index reading of 39 (Fear), and 13 green days out of the last 30 with roughly 10% price volatility. ^[34]
StockInvest.us notes that Dell fell 1.71% on December 3 after gaining 2.92% the prior day, and that while the stock has declined in 6 of the last 10 sessions, it remains up nearly 9% over two weeks. The site sees the drop in volume accompanying the price decline as a constructive sign, since “volume should follow the stock.” ^[35]
Intellectia describes Dell’s moving‑average trend as “leaning more bullish” as of December 4, with two positive and two negative signals, underscoring a mixed but improving technical picture. ^[36]

In short: human analysts are focused on the 12‑month AI growth story, while quant models are more focused on short‑term volatility and recent weakness.

Valuation: An AI Infrastructure Play at a Mid‑Teens Earnings Multiple

With Dell guiding for FY26 non‑GAAP EPS around $9.92, the December 3 close near $133.63 equates to a forward P/E in the low‑ to mid‑teens on management’s numbers. ^[37]

Several analyses, including a December AI‑stock roundup, point out that Dell trades at roughly 11x 2026 earnings estimates, depending on the precise EPS input and share price used. ^[38]

Compare that with:

High‑flying AI software and chip names, many of which trade at much richer multiples, and
Dell’s own double‑digit EPS and revenue growth in FY26, heavily driven by AI infrastructure. ^[39]

The consensus narrative in early December is that Dell offers AI exposure at a comparatively reasonable valuation, if it can keep expanding margins in ISG and navigate PC‑market softness.

Broader Context: Philanthropy, Politics and Brand Perception

Separate from pure financials, multiple outlets on December 2–3 covered Michael and Susan Dell’s pledge of $6.25 billion to help fund so‑called “Trump accounts” – new government‑backed investment accounts for U.S. children created under recent tax legislation. ^[40]

Key details:

The Dells’ donation is one of the largest private gifts ever aimed solely at American children, adding $250 per eligible child in certain lower‑income ZIP codes. ^[41]
Coverage from outlets like The Washington Post, People and The Guardian emphasizes both the scale of the philanthropy and the political controversy around the broader policy package. ^[42]
Tech and investing blogs noted that Dell rose about 2% on Tuesday after President Trump publicly highlighted the donation, though causation is hard to isolate. ^[43]

For investors, the main takeaway is not about who is right politically, but that Dell’s public profile and brand perception are shifting, which can influence everything from talent attraction to institutional ESG screens.

Risks and Watchpoints Highlighted in the Latest Coverage

Across Reuters, MarketWatch, Futurum, Blocks & Files and others, several recurring risks show up in late‑November and early‑December analysis:

AI Margin Pressure and Supply‑Chain Costs
- Rising memory‑chip prices and component costs could squeeze margins even as AI server revenue grows. ^[44]
- Dell has said it may pass some costs on to customers but aims to limit the impact, which could test demand elasticity. ^[45]
Intense Competition in AI Servers
- Rivals like Super Micro Computer and other OEMs are aggressively chasing the AI server wave, putting pressure on pricing and share. ^[46]
PC and Consumer Segment Weakness
- While commercial PCs are stabilizing, consumer revenue fell 7% year over year in Q3, and the PC cycle remains fragile. ^[47]
Macro and AI “Air Pocket” Risk
- A separate Bank of America strategy piece, covered by MarketWatch, warns of a potential “AI air pocket” and stressed consumer in 2026, which could pressure hardware names if AI spending pauses or re‑rates. ^[48]
Short‑Term Volatility and Technical Noise
- Quant services flag moderate volatility, with only about 43% of the last 30 sessions closing green, and a tendency for sharp up‑and‑down swings as AI sentiment whipsaws. ^[49]

These risks do not negate the AI growth story, but they explain why Dell can fall on a “good news” day and why analysts talk as much about margin quality as they do about backlog size.

Key Takeaways for Investors Watching Dell Technologies Stock

Putting the December 3, 2025 coverage together, several themes stand out:

Short‑Term:
- DELL fell 1.7% on December 3 and underperformed a rising market, but the decline came on light volume and after a brief rebound from November’s correction. ^[50]
Fundamentals:
- Q3 FY 2026 showed 11% revenue growth and 17% EPS growth, powered by an explosive ramp in AI server demand and a record $18.4 billion AI backlog. ^[51]
Guidance and Valuation:
- Dell raised FY26 revenue and AI shipment guidance and now trades at a low‑ to mid‑teens multiple of projected 2026 earnings, a discount to many AI peers. ^[52]
Street View:
- Most analysts rate DELL a Buy or Moderate Buy, with average 12‑month targets in the mid‑$160s and some forecasts near $170–$200, implying roughly 20–25% upside from current levels. ^[53]
Risks:
- Key watchpoints include AI margin execution, component inflation, competition, PC‑market weakness and macro uncertainty around AI spending and consumer strength. ^[54]

For now, the December 3 news flow reinforces a simple message:

Dell Technologies is increasingly viewed as a core AI infrastructure play with strong growth and a reasonable valuation – but the market wants proof that it can convert a record AI backlog into sustainable, high‑margin earnings.