Why Dell Stock Is Rising After-Hours Today?

• Dell secured a $9.69-billion blanket purchase agreement under the Department of War software initiative.
• The deal will simplify Microsoft-related software purchases for defense and intelligence agencies.
• Separately, Boeing received an $854.67-million US Navy contract modification to build and deliver four P-8A aircraft.

Dell Technologies (DELL) shares rose nearly 7% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the Department of Defense awarded the company a $9.69 billion contract to supply software and related services to the US military.

Dell Federal Systems, a unit of the company dedicated to serving the government, won the contract.

DELL Wins $9.69-Billion Defense Software Contract

Dell was awarded a single-award, firm-fixed-price blanket purchase agreement under the Department of War Enterprise Software Initiative. The deal is designed to simplify and consolidate software procurement across the Department of War, the Intelligence Community and the US Coast Guard.

It will allow agencies to access Microsoft (MSFT) software licenses, cloud subscriptions and Software Assurance through a unified framework.

The agreement also supports existing reliance on Microsoft products while expanding cloud and hybrid capabilities through tiered Microsoft 365 offerings and specialized packages.

A limited scope for Microsoft Azure is included to help transition select workloads to the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability program. The Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific is the contracting authority.

Dell Federal Systems won the contract after a competitive process, Defense Department chief information officer Kirsten Davies and acting Navy CIO Barry Tanner said during a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday, according to CNBC.

Boeing Wins $854-Million Aircraft Contract Modification

The U.S. Department of Defense also awarded Boeing Co (BA) an $854.67-million contract modification.  The deal expands production and delivery of four P-8A Lot 13 aircraft for foreign military sale customers. It also includes additional engineering work related to supply chain issues, software integration and hardware upgrades for both the US Navy and international buyers.

The contract is expected to be completed by September 2030 and includes funding from both Navy procurement and foreign military sales programs.

At the time of writing, the BA stock was up 0.1% after-hours. 

DELL, BA Stock: What Stocktwits Retail Sentiment Says

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for DELL was “bullish,” while message volume has been “extremely high.” For BA, retail sentiment was “bearish.”

While DELL stock has surged over 138% year-to-date, BA shares have risen nearly 4% during the same period.

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