NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026, 14:31 EST — Regular session
- Dell shares rose about 1.2% in afternoon trading after a four-session losing streak.
- A softer U.S. jobs report steadied rate-cut bets and lifted the broader market.
- Investors are looking ahead to Dell’s Feb. 26 earnings for updates on AI-server demand and PC margins.
Dell Technologies shares were up 1.2% at $119.93 on Friday afternoon, after earlier touching $120 in the session.
The uptick comes after a choppy stretch for the PC and server maker, with the stock down 1.31% on Thursday and marking a fourth straight session of losses, according to MarketWatch data. With the shares still well off their recent peak, investors have been looking for cleaner signals on whether Dell’s higher-end servers can cushion soft PC demand. (MarketWatch)
The broader tape helped on Friday. U.S. stocks pushed higher after a weaker-than-expected December jobs report kept expectations for Federal Reserve easing alive, with traders still pricing in about 54 basis points — 0.54 percentage point — of rate cuts this year, Reuters reported. “This is a report that’s somewhat within the range of expectations of investors, so they’re not reacting,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide. (Reuters)
Dell has also been in focus this week for its CES shift back toward familiar consumer branding. Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke told a media briefing, “I owe you an apology today. We didn’t listen to you. You were right on branding,” as Dell revived the XPS name and launched XPS 14 and XPS 16 laptops starting at $2,049.99 and $2,199.99, stepping back from last year’s simpler “Dell” tier names even as Clarke acknowledged AI features have not lifted demand the way the company expected. (Reuters)
Under the hood, investors remain more focused on AI servers than laptops. In late November, Dell lifted its fiscal 2026 revenue outlook for AI server shipments to $25 billion and reported an AI-server backlog — orders not yet shipped — of $18.4 billion, even as it flagged margin pressure risks tied to competition and costly production. (Reuters)
The next hard catalyst is earnings. Dell’s investor relations site lists fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter results for Feb. 26, with a conference call scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Central time, after the U.S. market close. (Dell Technologies Investors)
But costs could still bite. Reuters Breakingviews has pointed to shortages in commodity memory such as DRAM — dynamic random access memory used in PCs and servers — with contract prices up roughly 30% in the three months to December versus the prior quarter, a backdrop that can force hardware makers to raise prices or absorb the hit in margins.
Dell also has a quarterly cash dividend of $0.525 per share coming up, payable on Jan. 30 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 20, the company said. The next major check-in for the stock is Feb. 26, when investors will press for an update on AI-server demand, backlog conversion and any knock-on effect from component costs. (Dell Technologies Investors)
