Dell blows past Q2 guidance expectations. Stock gets lift.
Dell Technologies (DELL) posted mixed first quarter results on Thursday, releasing net revenue figures of $23.38 billion (vs. estimates of $23.15 billion) while adjusted earnings came out to $1.55 per share (shy of estimates for $1.69).
Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton dive into Dell's report as the computer company's second quarter revenue forecasts blew past Wall Street consensus and where it stands amid AI server demands.
To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here.
All right, Dell earnings coming in now. Let's get you those numbers. This stock is shooting higher here, more than 7% in the after hours. Q1 uh adjusted EPS 155 versus 169. Revenue 23.38 billion versus an estimate of 23.15 billion. But now let's get to the guidance. They are calling for Q2 revenue 28.5 billion to 29.5 billion. The street was at 25.35 billion and they see in uh the AI server backlog that growing to 14.4 billion. The estimate Julie looks like it was 7.88 billion. Healthy beat helps explain why the stocks moving higher.
Yeah.
Yes, most definitely. I'm just looking at the statement here. So the company is talking about that they saw growth throughout their different core businesses here. So if you look at those core businesses, they have two main groups, right? They have the infrastructure solutions group and the client solutions group. In infrastructure, the revenue rose by 12%. As part of that, servers and networking up 16%, storage up 6%. So it's really that server business that we have talked about that is sort of tied to the AI data center trade that has been doing well at Dell. Uh for the client solutions group, there we saw slower growth. Overall, revenue was up 5%, commercial client revenue up 9%. This was interesting. Consumer revenue, that's a place that's been lagging and saw a decrease of 19% there. So really the standout is again in servers and networking.
Very interesting what they have to say about the PC market on the call, any more color there, consumer sales, corporate sales would be interesting as well. Uh the AI story as you were pointing out, Julie, the company's AI servers. What what do they think the AI order trajectory is going to look like and what kind of color and insight they give us on there. You know, the stock heading into this print, I mean was basically flat this year. It was down about 40% over the past 12 months, but it's it's still a name that is the street is very broadly positive on. The average target is still around 130 on this one.
I mean, remember this stock sort of caught fire in 2024 in part alongside Nvidia and winning some of those data center contracts. It shot higher uh it reached a peak in May. Actually, wait, what's today? May 29th. It's record high. Look at this. Was on May 29th, 2024. Exactly a year ago today, this stock was closed at 17921. So you can see obviously it's down considerably from those levels.
Yeah.
Yes.
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Newsweek
43 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Austin Dethroned as Millionaires Flock to Arizona City
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The desert city of Scottsdale, Arizona, has become the fastest-growing millionaire hub in the nation over the Texas capital, Austin, which only last year ranked first in Henley & Partners' list of U.S. metros attracting the ultra-wealthy. The former pandemic boomtown of Austin, which has been experiencing a dramatic correction over the past couple of years, has fallen out of the top five in Henley & Partners' latest report on the fastest-growing wealth hubs in the U.S., though it remains one of the richest metros in the country. Why It Matters Over the last decade and especially in the years following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Austin became a massively popular destination for both businesses and out-of-state movers attracted by the city's vibrant culture, thriving job market and high quality of life. The city's appeal grew as Austin became known as a hub for tech giants such as Dell, Apple, Google and Tesla, attracting millionaires from all over the country. Many high-net individuals left expensive metropolises such as San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles to relocate to Austin, which combined the charm of a mid-size city with the opportunities traditionally found in bigger, much more expensive hubs. But its status as a tech powerhouse now seems to be threatened by the uncertainty surrounding the sector, which is still going through significant workforce cuts, return-to-work policies and the growth of rival tech hubs such as Scottsdale. What To Know While Austin was the fastest-growing millionaire hub in the nation in Henley & Partners' 2024 report, this year it does not even feature in the top five. It has been dethroned by Scottsdale, which between 2014 and 2024 has seen its millionaire population grow by 125 percent. Traffic and people cross the South Congress Avenue bridge, with the Austin skyline in the background, Texas. Traffic and people cross the South Congress Avenue bridge, with the Austin skyline in the background, Texas. Getty Images The Arizona desert city now counts 14,800 millionaire residents, 64 centi-millionaires and five billionaires and is home to major tech businesses such as GoDaddy, Microchip Technologies, Avnet, Insight Enterprises and Onsemi. It was followed by West Palm Beach, Florida, which grew its millionaire demographic by 112 percent in the same decade, and now counts among its total residents 11,500 millionaires, 78 centi-millionaires and 10 billionaires. The city has likely been benefiting from the high numbers of ultra-wealthy senior citizens retiring in the Sunshine State. The Bay Area, which includes San Francisco and the Silicon Valley, was the third-fastest growing millionaire hub, having seen its millionaire population grow by 98 percent between 2014 and 2024. The area had 342,400 millionaires, 756 centi-millionaires and 82 billionaires. In fourth place was another Florida city, Miami, which saw its millionaire demographics go up by 94 percent between 2014 and 2024. The city has 38,800 millionaires, 180 centi-millionaires and 17 billionaires. Same as West Palm Beach, Miami has likely benefited from the Sunshine State's status as a retirement haven and the lack of a state income tax. It was followed by Washington, D.C., which grew its population of millionaires by 92 percent in that same decade to reach a total of 28,900, likely as wealthy individuals wanted to be close to the heart of U.S. politics. The city also has 97 centi-millionaires and 12 billionaires. While Austin fell out of the top five fastest-growing millionaire hubs in the country, it was still the 10th wealthiest city in the country after New York City, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Boston and Miami. While some cities experienced a far bigger increase, Austin's millionaire population still grew by an impressive 90 percent between 2014 and 2024. What People Are Saying Andrew Amoils, head of Research at New World Wealth, which collaborated on the Henley & Partners' report, said in a press release: "America is the undisputed world leader when it comes to high-growth tech sectors such as software, microchips, online retail, internet hosting, social media, search engines and AI. As a result of this dominance, many tech entrepreneurs choose to move to the country in order to take their businesses to the next level." He added: "While the Bay Area remains the epicenter of this innovation ecosystem and the top global destination for wealthy tech entrepreneurs, we're also seeing a broader migration trend. Trade tensions and shifting economic priorities are driving HNWIs towards more business-friendly environments, with cities like Tampa, Salt Lake City, Denver and Santa Fe emerging as attractive alternatives thanks to their affordability, lifestyle appeal, and investment potential." He told "Austin's tech sector has slowed down over the past couple of years. This may be linked to the emergence of new tech hubs such as Tampa and Scottsdale. During the [COVID-19] pandemic, Austin was a hub of activity for out-of-state movers, but this trend has shifted as return-to-work policies and headwinds in the tech sector mean Austin has lost some of its luster." Henley & Partners said in a recent report of Austin: "While wealth growth in the city has slowed over the past couple of years, it remains very impressive when viewed over the past decade as a whole." senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones said in a recent article commenting on the report: "Scottsdale has grabbed the attention of high-earning households over the last decade as luxury buyers flock to the area in search of sunshine and access to the area's amenities, such as golf courses and resorts." What Happens Next While the U.S. remains attractive to investors, Henley & Partners' report warns that the ultra-wealthy are increasingly eyeing opportunities abroad amid growing economic uncertainty around the President Donald Trump's administration. The company reported a 183 percent increase in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, in inquiries from U.S. nationals for alternative residence and citizenship, as high-net individuals seek to diversify their portfolio and protect their assets from volatility in the markets. "In an era of rising geopolitical volatility, wealthy individuals and families are reassessing where, how, and what they own," Jacob Shapiro, head of geopolitical & macro research and senior client relationship manager at Bespoke Group, said in the Henley & Partners' USA Wealth Report. "The age of unchallenged U.S. dominance is over, replaced by a multi-polar world marked by fiscal recklessness, military confrontation, and political instability. As America's golden age of investment fades, the country's wealthiest are moving their money—and their lives—abroad in record numbers. Global diversification is no longer optional, but essential, for preserving wealth, lifestyle, and legacy in a world where opportunity is shifting beyond U.S. borders." This could mean further losses for cities like Austin—as well as Scottsdale. But Henley & Partners believes that for most wealthy individuals in the U.S., permanently leaving the country is not what they want. "Most American clients we engage with are primarily wanting a Plan B or option to relocate if they need or want to but almost all of them say they don't want to leave the US, even temporarily," Basil Mohr-Elzeki, head of North America at Henley & Partners, told Newsweek. "They just want to have something in place so that they have the option if it becomes necessary."
Digital Trends
15 hours ago
- Digital Trends
Torn between a Macbook Air and Pro? I'd recommend something totally different
Earlier this year, Dell went for a rebrand that axed some of its most recognizable product families, such as XPS and Latitude. Instead, the company went with a simplified naming scheme, which is still a tad confusing. The makeover ran deeper than the surface, though. The sharp XPS charm rode into the sunset, and so did a bunch of other aesthetic elements that helped Dell machines stand out. Instead, the company is now riding with a more generalist industrial look that focuses more on productivity instead of setting new heft and thickness records. Recommended Videos One of the first products to come out of the 'new' identity was the Dell Plus 16, which earned praise for its solid performance, clean design, and fantastic keyboard. I recently got my hands on the Dell Pro 14, which starts lower than its Plus sibling, but can eclipse it as you take the internal upgrade route. After giving it a run as my primary workhorse for a couple of weeks, it emerged as a solid workhorse that serves plenty of firepower and practical perks. But most importantly, it sits at the sweet middle-ground spot where it surpasses the MacBook Air without the high premium of a MacBook Pro. A practical workhorse The Dell Pro 14 Pro configuration I tested comes armed with 32GB of RAM, 512GB storage, and AMD's Ryzen AI 7 Pro (350) processor. That kind of memory upgrade would set you back by $1,480 on the MacBook Air, while the baseline MacBook Pro with the entry-level M4 processor will have you spending $2,000 at the very least. For comparison, the Dell machine I tested will cost you around $1,400 while doubling the internal storage to 1 TB. Now, saving a few hundred dollars is a relief in itself. In addition to the cost savings, you also get a handful of other benefits, and the most notable among them all is a diverse port selection. None of Apple's laptops go beyond a typical USB-C input and an HDMI port, which is exclusive to the MacBook Pro. On the Dell Pro, you get a pair of USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4.0 ports with power delivery and display-out capabilities. Additionally, the Dell machine also offers an equal number of USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports with PowerShare. Finally, you also get a dedicated HDMI 2.1 port and a gigabit-class Ethernet port, too. The USB-C ports are special as they ditch the soldered format and adopt a screwed aproach. The result is a modular design that offers four times higher twist resistance and nearly 33 times better impact resistance compared to the erstwhile Latitude series business laptops. The modular engineering also opens the doors for better repairability, too. I also love the privacy and security kit on this one. In addition to a fingerprint sensor, you also get an IR camera array at the top for Windows Hello facial recognition. In my time with the laptop, both the authentication measures worked just fine. I prefer face unlock to be the more seamless approach for identity verification on laptops, especially when you are dealing with features such as Windows Recall or other workflows where you often run into the authentication firewall. For a business laptop that is running enterprise software, such conveniences matter a lot. There's also a physical privacy shutter at the top to cover the FHD webcam for extra security. Plenty of silicon firepower Dell has made a rather curious choice with the processor inside its 14-inch business laptop. The variant I had for testing comes armed with an AMD Ryzen AI 7 Pro 350 processor. Now, this family of processors was introduced earlier this year, but they don't offer the best or latest from AMD's inventory. That distinction goes to the AMD Ryzen AI Max family of processors in the Strix Point series, while the AMD Ryzen AI and its Pro variations fall within the older Krackan Point family. That doesn't mean the Krackan Point silicon is a laggard, even though it sticks with a slightly less powerful integrated graphics chip. On the Ryzen AI 7 Pro 350, you get four Zen 5 cores and an equal number of Zen 5c efficiency cores. The peak clock speed goes up to 5GHz, while graphics performance is handled by the Radeon 860M iGPU. The NPU can deliver over 50 TOPS, higher than the baseline Microsoft has set for offering next-gen AI features on Copilot+ PCs. The performance chops are worth a note. On Cinebench (R24), it fared better than Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V Lunar Lake processor by a margin of around 12%, though it can't quite match the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite or Apple's M4 silicon. On Geekbench, it again performed better than its Intel rival access the single-core and multi-core metrics, and even surpassed Qualcomm's silicon. However, the Zen 5 series is still over 20% slower compared to Apple's M4 silicon. At multi-core output, the gap is much smaller and falls within the 7% performance gap. Running a mixed workload at the Blender BMW27 rendering test, the AMD silicon fared much better than Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite lags further behind due to the weak onboard Adreno GPU. On 3DMark, however, Intel's Arc graphics took the lead over AMD's Radeon 860M unit. As far as practical workflows go, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 Pro 350 is a fairly capable processor. For business consumers, it offers more firepower than they would need for handling Office and Workspace chores. It should also handle coding workflows fairly well and short-form video edits. My work was separated across Chrome (three windows, 12-15 tabs each), Slack, Trello, Teams, Photoshop, and Spotify. The Dell Pro 14 barely ever stuttered. Moreover, I never had to shift gears and raise the fan speed for an extra dash of cooling or contend with throttling issues. With the same workflow, the upper portion of my M4 MacBook Air's keyboard regularly runs hot and stutters are felt, especially with Chrome hogging the system resources. A few hits and misses The most perplexing element of the Dell Pro 14 is its chassis. The keyboard is fantastic, with lovely spacing, good travel, and a fantastic springy feedback. It's a joy to type a few thousand words without feeling any fatigue. The clicky trackpad gets the job done, but I wish it were the haptic type. The full-HD display is also acceptable, but not as sharp as its Apple competition. What I love about it is the anti-glare coating on top, though the machine is also available in touch-sensitive display variants. I wish it were brighter, but in a closed space, I was able to comfortably work on it at roughly 40% brightness levels. The Dell Pro 14 comes with up to a 55-Whr battery, which delivers good mileage paired with a 14-inch FHD display and a fairly power-efficient processor. Dell says the laptop should last up to 15 hours on a single charge, while fast charging ensures that you get up to 80% juice with an hour of plugged-in time. During my tests, it went up to 11.5 hours of sustained work, which is not bad, though still a fair bit behind Windows on Arm machines like the Asus ZenBook A14 or the MacBook Air. The power draw is worryingly high, however, when the fan profile has been set to its peak value under load and brightness levels are set above the 70% mark. Then there's the build quality. The Dell Pro 14 weighs slightly above the MacBook Air, but it's much lighter than the MacBook Pro. It's a joy to carry around, but keep in mind it's thicker than its Apple or Windows competition in the segment. The industrial looks are married to a polycarbonate shell. But there is a worrying amount of flex. Though it doesn't hurt the typing experience, you can easily press the deck. The same goes for the top lid, and you can even feel the hinge area pressing down. The Dell Pro 14 doesn't feel cheap. Far from it, actually. But I wish Dell went with a slightly stiffer material, or even a metallic shell to give it a more premium material befitting the sticker price. Overall, if your primary concern is a productivity workhorse that handles performance and practicality, but can't quite absorb the Apple tax, the Dell 14 Pro is a great choice. And for its target business audience, it's almost a no-brainer.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dell execs sound alarm with consumer comments
Dell execs sound alarm with consumer comments originally appeared on TheStreet. Jeff Clarke was feeling the love. Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer of Dell Technologies () , was giving analysts the rundown on the tech company's first-quarter report. 💵💰Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter 💰💵 The report included a backlog of orders for confirmed artificial intelligence systems valued at $14.4 billion. "We love where the backlog is," Clarke said during the Round Rock, Texas, computer maker's earnings call. "It's healthy." He said Dell was off to a good start "but we have much in front of us.""The customer deployments that we have in front of us are large, they're complex, they have very detailed scheduled deliveries," Clarke said. "There's lots of dependencies on this. We've talked about this business being lumpy and nonlinear." While AI momentum remained strong, he said, "given the scale of these opportunities, variability and timing and choices around technology, the inherent nonlinear nature of demand and associated shipments is likely to persist." Dell's fiscal-first-quarter earnings missed Wall Street expectations, but the revenue number beat estimates and the forecast for the current quarter was stronger than Wall Street expected. Clarke told analysts that Dell executed very well in the quarter, "achieving growth across our core markets." Demand for AI-optimized servers was "exceptionally strong," he said. More Tech Stocks: Palantir gets great news from the Pentagon Analyst has blunt words on Trump's iPhone tariff plans OpenAI teams up with legendary Apple exec Dell built "on the momentum discussed in February and further [demonstrated] that our differentiation is winning in the marketplace," he said, referring to the company's previous quarterly report. "We had over $12 billion in AI orders this quarter alone, which will drive significant revenue growth and EPS," he said. Still, Clarke said "the consumer market remains challenged." "Consumer revenue declined 19% and the industry pricing remained competitive," he said. Yvonne McGill, Dell's chief financial officer, said the company was expecting "subseasonal performance in traditional server and storage, our larger profit pools that provide scale, as customers evaluate their IT [spending] for the year given the dynamic [macroeconomic] environment." "We saw strong performance across small and medium business and large enterprise," she said. "In consumer, the demand environment remains soft and profitability remains challenged." McGill said Dell was focused on executing within the Client Solutions Group to capture the Microsoft () Windows PC refresh. Clarke said that while the PC refresh remains behind prior cycles, "we are seeing indicators that the installed base is upgrading to new Windows 11 PCs, many of them AI PCs." Dell is one of AI-chip maker Nvidia's () primary vendors, and the U.S. Department of Energy said its Doudna computer, due in 2026, will use technology from the two tech companies. The computer, named for the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Jennifer Doudna, who made key Crispr gene-editing discoveries, will be housed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., Reuters reported. Dell shares are down nearly 35% from a year ago and off 3.4% this year. Several investment firms issued research reports after the company reported its results. Bank of America Securities raised its price target on Dell to $155 from $150 and affirmed a buy rating on the shares. Earnings came in at the low end of guidance due to modest tariff impacts to margins at Client Solutions and slightly weaker growth from Intelligent Security Systems, the company's video-management and -analytics software solutions, the investment firm "the highest level," B of A said Dell could deliver significantly higher AI server revenue over the next two years of greater than $30 billion with strong upside to EPS with momentum in AI servers picking up. JP Morgan raised its target on Dell to $125 from $111 and maintained an overweight rating, according to The Fly. AI-server demand and orders in Q1 as well as greater than typical deployment expectations for Q2 "were the bright spot in an otherwise subdued outlook," JP Morgan wrote. Dell's traditional Enterprise demand drivers are softer and driving incremental caution into the back half of the year, the firm said. TD Cowen analyst Krish Sankar boosted the firm's price target on Dell Technologies to $125 from $120 and reiterated a hold rating. He called the $12 billon of April-quarter AI-server orders and expected July-quarter AI shipments of roughly $7 billion key positives. The macroeconomic environment might present a modest headwind for traditional server and consumer demand while tariffs and commodity costs are inflationary execs sound alarm with consumer comments first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 1, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
