NEW YORK, May 9, 2026, 09:15 EDT
Dell Technologies Inc. surged 13.0% Friday, ending the session at $260.46 after President Donald Trump singled out the company and its founder during a Mother’s Day event at the White House, urging Americans to “go out and buy a Dell,” according to Bloomberg. Shares hit an intraday high of $263.82, with trading volume topping 12 million. Bloomberg
Timing is key here. Dell isn’t just a PC play anymore—investors have shifted their gaze to AI-optimized servers. These are systems decked out with specialized chips, networking, storage, and cooling, all meant to handle artificial-intelligence workloads. Dell said it locked in over $64 billion in AI-server orders for fiscal 2026, shipped out more than $25 billion, and started fiscal 2027 still holding $43 billion in backlog—orders on the books but not yet delivered. “The AI opportunity is transforming our company,” said Jeff Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer. Chief Financial Officer David Kennedy highlighted Dell’s “portfolio, operating model and growing customer base” as the company projected about $50 billion in AI-optimized server revenue for fiscal 2027. Dell Technologies
The pressure is on as Dell is set to report fiscal 2027 first-quarter numbers May 28 at 3:30 p.m. CDT. Fresh record closes capped off Friday—S&P 500 advanced 0.8%, Nasdaq surged 1.7%—and with sentiment riding high, investors are showing little appetite for soft guidance from major AI hardware players.
Trump’s comment has thrown Dell back into the political spotlight. In December, Reuters reported that Michael and Susan Dell committed $6.25 billion for the Invest America plan—enough to give $250 investment accounts to 25 million kids while Trump was in office. Dell Technologies isn’t tied to the Dells’ foundation, Reuters added, even though Michael Dell still runs the company as founder, chairman, and CEO.
Wall Street’s been zeroing in on demand, too. Late April saw Bank of America’s Wamsi Mohan bump his price target on Dell up to $246 from $205, sticking with a Buy call. BofA’s note pointed to agentic AI — software that breaks tasks into multiple steps — as a driver, saying it “turns one discrete inferencing event into sequenced workflows” and, as a result, ratchets up appetite for servers, infrastructure stacks, and storage. Investing.com
Dell isn’t the only name riding that wave. On Wednesday, Reuters said optimism around AMD’s AI forecast kicked off a global chip surge; Super Micro Computer soared 14.3% after projecting stronger numbers. Dell climbed 5.5%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise, on the other hand, edged down 0.2%. All of this links Dell firmly to trends in data-center spending—even as it battles Super Micro and HPE for server business.
But things can swing the opposite direction. According to Dell’s annual report, most AI demand up to now has come from just a handful of big clients and cloud names. That concentration brings lumpy results, squeezes gross margins, and locks up working capital when major orders hit. The company’s own filing also flags risks from relying on limited suppliers, trade spats, and part shortages — all of which could disrupt shipments or drive up expenses.
So, the stock tells a double story here. Trump’s remark shoved Dell right onto Friday’s tape. What’s tougher—and will have to wait until later this month—is figuring out if Dell can actually convert its AI order flow into real revenue, and do it without slicing into margins too deeply.
