Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) stock is in focus on Monday, December 15, 2025, as investors balance two powerful—and sometimes conflicting—forces: red-hot demand for AI infrastructure on one side, and a fast-moving memory price shock that’s pushing Dell toward broad commercial price increases on the other.
As of 19:06 UTC (2:06 p.m. ET) on Dec. 15, DELL shares traded around $130.94, up about 0.74% on the day.
Below is a detailed look at the latest Dell stock news, forecasts, and analyst takes circulating as of 15.12.2025, plus the key catalysts that could drive DELL shares into early 2026.
What’s new on Dec. 15, 2025: Dell price hikes tied to surging memory costs
The dominant near-term headline around Dell isn’t an earnings report—it’s pricing.
A new industry roundup published today says Dell is preparing commercial product-line price increases starting December 17, 2025, with reported increases ranging from 10% to 30%, depending on contract structure. [1]
Reported pricing moves: where the increases hit
Coverage of the internal guidance indicates higher prices are expected to concentrate in configurations where memory and storage costs are biting hardest:
- 32GB memory configurations: +$130 to +$230
- 128GB memory configurations: +$520 to +$765
- 1TB storage configurations: +$55 to +$135 [2]
Additional reporting suggests increases may also touch AI laptops with NVIDIA “Blackwell” GPUs, plus some monitors and GPU configurations, widening the scope beyond just classic “RAM/SSD” line items. [3]
Why this matters more than a typical PC pricing update
Two details make this especially relevant for Dell stock:
- It’s aimed at the commercial side of the PC business. Reports emphasize that Dell’s Client Solutions Group (CSG) is heavily weighted toward commercial customers, and that the commercial segment is a major driver of the unit’s revenue base. [4]
- The memory squeeze is industry-wide—and could persist. A Reuters Breakingviews analysis links the current crunch to AI infrastructure demand pulling supply toward high-bandwidth memory, contributing to shortages in “regular” memory products used across PCs. It cites analyst estimates putting DRAM contract prices up roughly ~30% over the three months to December versus the prior quarter, and warns the shortage could keep prices elevated into next year. [5]
The market question for DELL shares now becomes: Can Dell pass through costs (supporting revenue) without damaging demand or compressing margins further?
The bull case: AI infrastructure demand is still Dell’s growth engine
Even with PC pricing turbulence, Dell’s AI server narrative remains the centerpiece of the stock’s longer-term thesis.
What Dell just reported: Q3 FY2026 was a record quarter
In its fiscal 2026 third quarter report (quarter ended Oct. 31, 2025), Dell posted:
- Record revenue: $27.0 billion, up 11% year over year
- Non-GAAP diluted EPS: $2.59, up 17% year over year
- Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) revenue: $14.1 billion, up 24%
- Servers & Networking: $10.1 billion, up 37%
- Storage: $4.0 billion, down 1%
- Client Solutions Group (CSG) revenue: $12.5 billion, up 3%
- Commercial client: $10.6 billion, up 5%
- Consumer: $1.9 billion, down 7% [6]
That mix—fast-growing infrastructure, steady commercial PCs, weaker consumer—largely explains why DELL has traded like an “AI infrastructure” stock in 2025.
AI server orders and backlog: the numbers Wall Street keeps circling
Dell reported record AI server orders of $12.3 billion in the quarter and cited an $18.4 billion backlog. [7]
Reuters coverage around the same period also highlighted Dell’s expectation for roughly $25 billion in fiscal 2026 AI server shipments, framing it as a key driver behind the company’s growth outlook. [8]
Dell’s outlook: strong top-line guidance, but execution and margins are the “real test”
Dell paired its Q3 results with forward guidance that—on paper—signals acceleration.
Dell’s Q4 and full-year FY2026 guidance snapshot
From the company’s Q3 release:
- Full-year FY2026 revenue expected between $111.2B and $112.2B (midpoint $111.7B)
- Full-year AI server shipments expected to be roughly $25B
- Q4 FY2026 revenue expected between $31.0B and $32.0B (midpoint $31.5B)
- Q4 non-GAAP EPS expected around $3.50 at midpoint [9]
That’s the optimistic setup. The “hard part,” as many analysts see it, is translating huge AI demand into durable profitability—especially when component costs (like memory) are moving rapidly.
Analyst forecasts for DELL stock: “Moderate Buy” consensus, but big disagreements underneath
If you look only at consensus, Wall Street still leans positive.
Consensus view: upside implied, with a wide target range
MarketBeat’s rollup shows:
- Consensus rating: “Moderate Buy”
- Consensus price target: about $162.84 [10]
That implies meaningful upside from current levels near $131—but the path isn’t universally agreed upon.
Recent notable calls: bullish raises vs. margin-driven caution
A MarketBeat analyst roundup includes a range of targets and stances that illustrate how split the Street can be:
- Evercore ISI: target cited at $180 (Outperform)
- UBS: target cited at $167 (Buy)
- Barclays: target cited at $148 (Equal Weight) [11]
On the bullish end, another MarketBeat note covering post-earnings reactions said Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $185 from $175 and maintained a Buy rating. [12]
The bearish counterweight: Morgan Stanley’s downgrade
The most pointed caution in recent coverage came from Morgan Stanley. An Investing.com report says the bank downgraded Dell from Overweight to Underweight and cut its price target to $110 from $144, citing:
- AI server mix concerns
- Component cost inflation (with memory singled out)
- Estimated reductions to longer-term margin assumptions (roughly 150–220 bps) and an EPS forecast cut (about 12%) [13]
That call matters because it connects today’s most urgent headline—memory-driven pricing disruption—directly to the market’s biggest anxiety about DELL: margin durability.
Why memory pricing is suddenly a stock driver (not just an IT procurement problem)
The reason this memory episode is moving from “supply chain noise” into “stock narrative” is that it touches both of Dell’s core engines:
- PCs and endpoints (especially commercial notebooks and desktops)
- AI servers and infrastructure stacks where memory demand and BOM costs are intense
Reuters Breakingviews described the current environment as a severe shortage across data storage products, in part because AI infrastructure growth is pulling supply and keeping prices high. [14]
Meanwhile, today’s TrendForce piece goes a step further, forecasting another sharp rise in memory prices in 1Q26 and suggesting notebook brands may be pushed toward portfolio adjustments (mix shifts and/or further pricing actions) into 2026. [15]
For Dell stock, the implication is straightforward: if memory inflation persists, DELL’s next few quarters may hinge on pricing execution and discount discipline as much as unit demand.
Product and platform momentum: Dell keeps leaning into “AI Factory” positioning
Dell has also continued to market itself as a full-stack enterprise AI infrastructure partner—not just a box seller.
In a November 2025 Dell press release, the company highlighted updates to its “Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA” offering, including storage integration, automation platform expansion, and PowerEdge server updates aimed at accelerating enterprise AI deployments. [16]
This matters for investors because it frames Dell’s AI opportunity as broader than a single server cycle—potentially touching servers, networking, storage, software, and services.
Shareholder returns: dividend and capital return stay in the story
Dell’s stock appeal isn’t only growth. It also includes capital return.
On Dec. 4, 2025, Dell declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.525 per share, payable Jan. 30, 2026 to shareholders of record Jan. 20, 2026. The release also noted Dell had increased its annual cash dividend to $2.10 per share following board approval earlier in the year. [17]
In its Q3 results release, Dell also emphasized capital return, stating it returned $1.6B to shareholders in Q3 through repurchases and dividends (and $5.3B year-to-date). [18]
Key catalysts for DELL stock investors to watch next
1) The Dec. 17 commercial pricing reset
The immediate catalyst is whether reported 10%–30% contract-related price increases stick—and how quickly customers either pull forward purchases or push back. [19]
2) AI server conversion: backlog to revenue—profitably
Dell’s AI order flow has been headline-grabbing. The next challenge is sustaining delivery pace while managing costs, supply, and competitive pricing. [20]
3) Next earnings date: Feb. 26, 2026
Dell’s next major scheduled catalyst is its next earnings report, listed on earnings calendars for Feb. 26, 2026. [21]
4) Long-term growth targets and investor expectations
Back in October, Reuters reported Dell raised its multi-year growth targets on AI server demand, including 7%–9% compounded annual revenue growth and at least 15% annual adjusted EPS growth over the next four years. [22]
When long-term targets rise, the market’s tolerance for “temporary” margin pressure can shrink—making each cost shock (like memory) more consequential for DELL shares.
Bottom line: Dell stock is a tug-of-war between pricing power and cost pressure
As of Dec. 15, 2025, Dell Technologies stock sits at the intersection of:
- AI infrastructure strength (orders, backlog, raised shipment outlook) [23]
- A fast-moving memory cost cycle that’s forcing near-term commercial price actions and fueling analyst debate over margins [24]
- A still-supportive—but divided—analyst picture, with a moderate-buy consensus but sharp disagreement on what margins should look like in a higher-cost AI hardware world [25]
References
1. www.trendforce.com, 2. www.trendforce.com, 3. www.trendforce.com, 4. www.businessinsider.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.businesswire.com, 7. www.businesswire.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.businesswire.com, 10. www.marketbeat.com, 11. www.marketbeat.com, 12. www.marketbeat.com, 13. www.investing.com, 14. www.reuters.com, 15. www.trendforce.com, 16. www.dell.com, 17. www.businesswire.com, 18. www.businesswire.com, 19. www.trendforce.com, 20. www.businesswire.com, 21. www.zacks.com, 22. www.reuters.com, 23. www.businesswire.com, 24. www.trendforce.com, 25. www.marketbeat.com
