Stock Market Today, Sept. 2: Dell Surges 16% on Soaring AI Backlog
Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), a PCs, servers, storage, and enterprise AI infrastructure provider, closed at $492.00, up 15.76%. The company's stronger-than-expected quarter and raised outlook, backed by record AI server orders, drove the move, and investors are now watching AI server demand and margin trends. Trading volume reached 35.0M shares, coming in about 353% above its three-month average of 7.7M shares. Dell Technologies IPO'd in 2016 and has grown 3,976% since going public.
How the markets moved today
S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) rose 0.47% to 7,667, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) gained 0.45% to 26,218. In computer hardware and IT infrastructure, sector rivals HP (NYSE:HPQ) closed at $32.00, up 2.16%, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) finished at $51.85, up 1.94%, as investors tracked Dell Technologies' AI order momentum and the broader PC margin backdrop.
What this means for investors
Dell Technologies' Q2 earnings were a perfect encapsulation of how far the company has come since its "dude, you're getting a Dell" days. Revenue and adjusted EPS spiked 58% and 203% during the quarter, rocketing past Wall Street's expectations. The core driver of Dell's success in Q2 came from its AI-Optimized Server revenue of $16.4 billion, which doubled from last year.
As promising as this revenue growth alone is in its AI unit, its record $60.9 billion of orders and exiting backlog of $95 billion highlight that the best is yet to come and that Q2's excellent results may just be the tip of the iceberg. Powered by the visibility of this backlog, management raised its full-year guidance to 69% sales growth and a 148% rise in adjusted EPS, to $25.50. This leaves DELL stock trading at 19 times forward earnings, which isn't particularly outrageous given the company's AI potential and its steady servers, networking, and PC businesses.
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Josh Kohn-Lindquist has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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