Dell Technologies Inc. shares soared 16.77% on Friday to close at a record $295.19, briefly touching an intraday high of $298.32. The rally extended the stock's weekly gain to approximately 22%, driven by analyst upgrades and heightened investor expectations for the company's artificial intelligence server business.
U.S. markets will be closed on Monday, May 25, for Memorial Day, with trading resuming on Tuesday. Dell is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter results after the market close on Wednesday, May 28, followed by a conference call at 3:30 p.m. CDT.
Analysts revised their price targets upward on Friday. Wells Fargo's Aaron Rakers increased his target to $270 from $180, maintaining an Overweight rating. JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Bank of America also raised their targets, while Morgan Stanley lifted its price target but kept an Underweight rating, signaling caution relative to peers.
At the company's annual Dell Technologies World event this week, CEO Michael Dell highlighted that more than 5,000 customers are using the Dell AI Factory with Nvidia. "We're helping customers turn their data into AI fuel on infrastructure they own," Dell said. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang added that "enterprise AI adoption is going parabolic," describing it as a "gigantic leap in computation requirements."
The AI server segment, which uses Nvidia chips, has become a key growth driver. Dell reported a $43 billion backlog for AI-optimized servers heading into fiscal 2027, with revenue guidance of $138 billion to $142 billion for the year, including about $50 billion from AI server sales. In fiscal 2026, overall revenue rose 19% to $113.5 billion.
Matt Kimball, VP and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, noted that Dell's data-center strategy extends beyond hardware. "Dell is tackling the operational reality across the full stack," he said, citing storage, PowerEdge servers, and cyber-resilience tools as part of a broader bundle that could drive sustained growth.
However, risks remain. AI server revenues may climb, but margins could stay thin due to expensive components like memory and GPUs. Options data tracked by Bloomberg suggests traders expect an 11% swing in Dell shares following the May 28 earnings report.
Peer stocks also rallied on Friday. HP Inc. gained 15.3%, while Super Micro Computer added 6.3%. The broader S&P 500 rose 0.4%, marking its eighth consecutive weekly gain.
As Dell heads into its earnings release, the company must demonstrate that AI server demand is accelerating, supply chains can keep up, and that sales are translating into real profit growth. If those elements fall short, Friday's record high could prove premature.
