Dell shares fall despite growing AI server business

Dell reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday that beat analysts’ estimates for earnings and sales, as the company has emerged as one of the top vendors for artificial intelligence servers.

Shares fell about 12% in extended trading at one point before recovering. When the company reported earnings in February, it reported earnings per share that were significantly higher than expectations. This quarter, Dell’s earnings were in line with Wall Street’s forecast.

Here is how Dell did compared to LSEG consensus estimates:

• Earnings per share: $1.27 adjusted vs. $1.26 estimated
• Revenue: $22.24 billion vs. $21.64 billion estimated

The company said it expected current-quarter earnings of $1.65 per share and between $23.5 billion and $24.5 billion of sales. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $23.35 billion. Dell guided for between $93.5 billion and $97.5 billion in sales for the full fiscal year.

Dell reported $955 million in net income during the quarter, or $1.32 per diluted share, versus $578 million, or 79 cents, in the year-ago period. Overall sales during the quarter were up 6% on an annual basis.

Dell’s division including data center sales, called Infrastructure Solutions Group, saw sales rise 22% on an annual basis to $9.2 billion. The company said servers were a fast-growing unit, with sales rising 42% to $5.5 billion, and called out strong demand for AI servers.

Dell has emerged as a top vendor for AI-oriented servers, which are in high demand as companies invest in infrastructure for predictions and generative AI. Earlier this year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called out Dell founder Michael Dell at a conference as the person to contact to place orders for the company’s new chips.

Dell said it recorded $2.6 billion of “AI-optimized” server orders during the quarter.

Before Thursday’s report, Dell shares had more than doubled in 2024.

Dell’s division for PCs and laptops, called Client Solutions Group, showed flat growth on an annual basis with sales of $12.0 billion.