New York, January 8, 2026, 14:39 EST — Regular session
- Dell Technologies shares fell about 1.3% in afternoon trade, after sliding more than 4% earlier in the session
- CES headlines spotlight new XPS and Alienware gear, but Dell executives also played down consumer pull for “AI PCs”
- Focus shifts to Friday’s U.S. jobs report and Dell’s Feb. 26 earnings
Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE: DELL) shares fell 1.3% to $118.46 on Thursday afternoon after dipping as low as $114.79, a slide of about 4.4% at the session trough. The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ ETF was down about 0.8%, while PC rival HP Inc rose about 3.2%.
The moves matter now because the PC industry has leaned on “AI PCs” — laptops with neural processing units (NPUs) meant to handle some AI tasks on the device — to spark a new upgrade cycle. Investors have also started to separate AI winners from the rest as the sector’s big rally runs into tougher questions on returns. “While AI is still hot, there are going to be winners and losers,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, said. 1
Dell has been on stage at CES this week pitching a broader consumer and gaming push, including new XPS 14 and XPS 16 laptops and a teased return of the XPS 13 later this year, the company said. It also outlined plans to expand Alienware laptops and rolled out new UltraSharp monitors, including a 52-inch 6K display. “We’re getting back to our roots with a renewed focus on consumer and gaming,” Dell vice chairman and COO Jeff Clarke said. 2
But Dell’s messaging around AI features in consumer machines has turned more cautious. “They’re not buying based on AI,” Kevin Terwilliger, Dell’s head of product, said in an interview cited by The Verge, adding that AI can confuse buyers more than it helps them land on a purchase outcome. 3
Dell is still pressing the infrastructure angle tied to big AI buildouts. In a separate CES update, the company said it plans next-generation AI infrastructure based on Nvidia’s Vera Rubin platform, including PowerEdge servers and PowerSwitch networking, with performance framed in “exaflops,” a measure of computing speed. 4
The company’s last earnings report in late November leaned heavily on that theme. Dell reported record quarterly revenue of $27.0 billion and lifted full-year revenue guidance to $111.7 billion at the midpoint, while raising AI server shipment guidance to roughly $25 billion and pointing to record AI server orders. 5
On the chart, Dell is trading below its 50-day moving average around $124 and its 200-day average near $130, common trend gauges that can act like rough resistance when a stock is falling. Pivot-point levels for Thursday put initial support near $117.74 and resistance around $119.02. 6
The risk is that CES buzz turns into showroom traffic rather than orders, especially if a hot U.S. jobs print pushes yields higher and tightens financial conditions again. On the AI infrastructure side, margins can swing on component costs and how quickly customers take delivery of large server clusters.
Traders are watching Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, and then Dell’s next earnings report, scheduled for Feb. 26. 7
