DELL: Dell Stock Pops 20% on Earnings Beat, Strong Guidance & Hot AI Servers Demand

PC maker picked up $22.3 billion in revenue, sliding 11% year-over-year. But earnings leaped way past Wall Street consensus.

• Dell stock DELL soared 20% in off-market trading Thursday and is on track to open Friday’s regular session above $115 a share. The PC maker delivered a surprise earnings beat even though sales for the last quarter indicated contracting growth. Still, AI stepped in to save the day.
• Dell logged $22.3 billion in sales for the fourth quarter, ended February 2, an 11% drop from a year ago and flat from the previous quarter. It was, however, in line with the company’s own guidance and even topped analysts’ calls for $22.2 billion. Earnings per share arrived at $2.20, well above the consensus at $1.73 a pop.
• Behind the company’s impressive figures was a rise in demand for AI servers. Dell said it has a backlog of orders for AI servers, mostly powered by Nvidia’s NVDA massive H100 chips, in excess of $2.9 billion. That figure is up from $1.6 billion in the last quarter. Dell has pulled off a stellar start of the year. Shares are up more than 26% before the opening bell today.