DELL Stock Shrugs Off Market Slump As Analysts See ‘Surging’ AI Demand After 'Blowout' Q2 Beat

• Citi called the quarter a “clear beat” amid “surging” demand and also raised its target to $600.
• JPMorgan described the results as “another robust quarter” and lifted its price target to $635 from $565.
• Melius Research raised its target to $735 from $650, the highest among the analyst updates on TheFly.

Dell Technologies (DELL) shares surged in early morning trade on Wednesday after the company reported a second quarter earnings beat and raised its full-year outlook, prompting a wave of price-target hikes from Wall Street. 

In a note to investors cited by TheFly, Citi called Dell’s second quarter (Q2) results a “clear beat” amid “surging” demand, while Morgan Stanley said “blowout” quarters like Q2 should continue for Dell as long as supply is short and execution is strong.

DELL stock rose nearly 8% in pre-market and was among the top-trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing, outperforming the broader market, which trended lower on escalating tensions in the Middle East and inflation worries. The Nasdaq-100 tracking Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 (QQQ) edged around 0.4% lower in pre-market trade, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust traded flat.

Analysts See Demand Outpacing Supply

BofA raised its price target on Dell to $600 from $505 and maintained a ‘Buy’ rating, pointing to demand that “continues to outpace supply.” The firm also raised its fiscal 2027 revenue and earnings estimates after Dell's AI server revenue, orders and backlog came in well above its expectations.

Melius Research delivered the most aggressive target shown in the analyst updates, raising its price target to $735 from $650 while maintaining a ‘Buy’ rating, followed by JPMorgan, which raised its price target to $635 from $565 and called the results “another robust quarter.” 

AI Momentum Extends Beyond AI Servers

JPMorgan pointed to “continued AI momentum,” an increasingly durable IT infrastructure refresh, and PC demand that has proven more resilient than expected.

Barclays also flagged Dell's traditional server and networking business, which grew 122% year over year in the quarter. The firm said AI is driving incremental demand across data-center infrastructure. The firm lifted its target to $603 from $550 and maintained an ‘Overweight’ rating on Dell shares. 

Meanwhile, Piper Sandler raised its target to $558 from $497, citing customer reallocations of budgets toward IT and workload modernization. The firm also said demand continues to outstrip supply, while on-premise and edge infrastructure offers attractive economics for enterprise AI inference.

Wall Street Raises The Bar For Dell

Morgan Stanley raised its target to $499 from $434 but kept an ‘Equal Weight’ rating. The firm said the results show companies are investing heavily in AI across cloud, hybrid and on-premise environments, while warning about the durability of Dell's ISG pricing and margin capture.

Piper Sandler similarly noted some investor pushback over how much of Dell's gains are coming from pricing versus volume.

Dell Q2 Earnings Recap

Dell reported record quarterly revenue of about $47 billion, up 58% year over year, and ahead of Wall Street’s estimate of $46.7 billion. AI-optimized server revenue reached $16.4 billion. 

Dell also booked a record $60.9 billion in AI server orders and ended the quarter with a $95 billion backlog.

The Texas-based laptop and AI server maker projected annual revenue of around $192 billion for the fiscal year ending in January 2027. The new forecast represents a $25 billion increase from its previous target of $167 billion set in May.

How Is Retail Feeling About DELL Stock?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Dell rose to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ territory over the past day, while chatter increased to ‘extremely high’ from ‘high’ levels. 

One retail trader on the platform cited weakness in technicals, forecasting that DELL stock may fall once the market opens. 

Others were more bullish, with one predicting that DELL stock could cross $500 at market open. 

DELL stock has gained over 230% this year and more than 250% in the last 12 months.

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