Dell Technologies closed its fiscal year with a quarter that underscored how deeply its business has shifted toward artificial intelligence. The company reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of $33.379 billion, up 40.21% from a year earlier, while AI-optimized server revenue surged 342% to $8.952 billion.
The numbers were enough to keep Dell stock in focus. Shares were up 90.55% year to date and 111.69% over the past year, after a one-month gain of 21.46%, even though the stock still traded 24% below its 52-week high of $263.99.
What makes the latest report stand out is not just the quarterly surge, but the size of the pipeline behind it. Dell exited fiscal 2026 with a record $43 billion AI backlog after booking $64 billion in AI orders during the year, giving management a base to support a far larger revenue profile in fiscal 2027.
That outlook was aggressive. Management guided fiscal 2027 revenue to a midpoint of $140 billion, up 23%, and said AI server revenue would roughly double to $50 billion. Non-GAAP earnings per share for the year were guided to $12.90, while first-quarter fiscal 2027 EPS was pegged at $2.90, up 87% from a year earlier.
The guidance helps explain why the market has rewarded Dell so heavily. A target of $275.20 from 24/7 Wall St. implied 15.61% upside from $238.03, with a buy recommendation and a 90% confidence reading. The bull scenario called for the shares to reach $287.10 over 12 months, while the bear case put them at $220.93.
For now, Dell is trading like a company that has moved from a value hardware name to an AI infrastructure powerhouse. The company’s operating income grew 30.66% in fiscal 2026, and its AI server business has become the clearest driver of investor enthusiasm as buyers race to secure the computing power needed for large-scale AI deployments.
The catch is that the same mix shift helping revenue is squeezing profitability. Dell’s fiscal 2026 gross margin compressed to 20% from 21.4%, and shareholders’ equity was negative at minus $2.470 billion. The company also repurchased about 54 million shares during the year, a sign management is still returning capital even as the balance sheet carries strain.
That tension sits at the center of the Dell story. The bull case depends on AI infrastructure demand continuing to outrun already lifted guidance, while the bear case points to lower-margin AI server sales, negative equity, supplier concentration on AI silicon and tough competition from HPE and Supermicro. Dell’s latest numbers show demand is real. The question investors are now pricing is how much of that demand can be turned into durable profit.
