Dell Stock Rises After Company Reports Stronger-Than Expected Earnings, AI Server Surge

Dell Technologies (DELL) shares jumped after the bell Thursday following second-quarter revenue that cleared analysts’ expectations on the strength of artificial intelligence (AI) sales.

Revenue rose 9% year-over-year to $25 billion, above the analyst consensus from Visible Alpha. Server and networking revenue rose 80% to a record $7.7 billion, lifted by strong demand for both AI and traditional servers. Diluted earnings per share came in at $1.17, up year-over-year and narrowly above expectations. 

“Our AI momentum accelerated in Q2, and we’ve seen an increase in the number of enterprise customers buying AI solutions each quarter,” Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said. AI-optimized server demand, he said, was $3.2 billion, rising 23% sequentially.

Server and networking revenue is part of Dell’s infrastructure solutions group, which saw revenue rise 38% to $11.6 billion. Client solutions group revenue fell 4% to $12.4 billion.

Shares of Dell, which edged lower during Thursday’s regular trading, rose about 2% early in the after-hours session.