New York, Feb 27, 2026, 17:13 EST — After-hours
- Dell ended the day up 21.9%, finishing at $148.08. After the bell, shares dipped a bit.
- Dell expects its AI server revenue to more than double by fiscal 2027.
- Looking ahead, the March 6 U.S. jobs report lands next, with another round of AI-related earnings also coming up next week.
Dell Technologies finished Friday up 21.9% at $148.08. After the bell, shares slipped to $147.45, down roughly 0.4%.
U.S. stocks broadly slipped as traders reacted to a stronger-than-forecast Producer Price Index, with the wholesale inflation print stirring nerves already raw over AI shakeups, tariffs, and global tensions. “There are still some cracks out there,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. Reuters
The distinction is coming into sharp focus as traders sift through which companies could be real AI winners, and which might just be riding the hype. Anything that hints at being overblown is taking a hit. Server and data-center stocks lately stand in as a gauge for the staying power of this spending surge.
Dell wants to push more premium hardware into AI data centers—and then kick extra cash over to shareholders. Moves like that catch eyes when the tape turns choppy.
Dell expects AI-optimized server revenue to jump 103%, landing near $50 billion by fiscal 2027. The company bumped its dividend up 20% and committed another $10 billion to its share buyback—a move that cuts the share count. Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are forecast to drop at least $630 billion into AI infrastructure this year, a pool Dell is eager to tap. On the post-results call, COO Jeff Clarke mentioned some clients had a bout of “sticker shock” at first. Gabelli Funds’ Hendi Susanto said Dell was “getting ahead” on cost pressure that’s still crimping competitors. Reuters
At least seven brokerages raised their price targets Friday after Dell pointed to a quicker AI server rollout. J.P. Morgan’s Samik Chatterjee and his team say Dell’s work with second-tier cloud players and enterprise customers gives it “flexibility” on margins. Their new target sees Dell hitting $165 over the next year. Memory prices are still a sore spot—TrendForce now expects first-quarter DRAM contract prices to jump 90% to 95% from the previous quarter. Dell, for its part, claims it’s navigating those rising costs better than HP and Lenovo. Reuters
The buyback looks good on paper. With a bigger repurchase, earnings per share get some padding—even if pricing wobbles or costs start to bite.
Still, after such a rally, there’s not much cushion left if AI infrastructure orders start to stall or component inflation sparks more price increases. Any slip in margins—or a slowdown from major customers—could hit the stock hard, especially after its biggest daily jump in almost two years.
Up next, the focus shifts to the March 6 U.S. jobs report, plus a batch of earnings results linked to consumer spending and the AI supply chain. Broadcom, Best Buy, and Target are all set to report.
