Q3 Results Fall Short of Revenue Estimates
Dell Technologies reported fiscal third-quarter earnings that slightly missed Wall Street revenue expectations, highlighting continued pressure in its traditional PC and laptop business. The company posted $27.01 billion in revenue versus the $27.13 billion analysts had forecast, though adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.59, beating the $2.47 consensus. Net income rose to $1.54 billion, or $2.28 per diluted share, up from $1.17 billion, or $1.64 per share, in the same period last year.

Shares of Dell rose 5 percent in after-hours trading as investors focused on the company’s strong AI-driven outlook.

AI Drives Optimism for Q4 and Full Year
Dell projected a robust fourth quarter with expected revenue of $31.5 billion and earnings per share of $3.50, well above the $27.59 billion revenue and $3.21 EPS estimates from analysts. The company highlighted that $9.4 billion of sales in Q4 will come from AI servers alone, reflecting surging demand from enterprises, governments, and emerging neoclouds such as CoreWeave. This does not include a November deal to provide Nvidia-based GB300 systems to Iren for rental to Microsoft.

Overall AI server shipments for the year are now projected to reach $25 billion, up from an earlier estimate of $20 billion. Dell also raised its full-year revenue guidance to $111.7 billion from $107 billion, indicating strong momentum in its AI infrastructure business.

Data Center and PC Segments Show Diverging Trends
Dell’s data center unit, Infrastructure Solutions Group, delivered $14.11 billion in revenue, meeting analyst expectations. Within this segment, servers and networking parts generated $10.1 billion, up 37 percent year-over-year, largely driven by $5.6 billion in AI server shipments. Storage gear sales contributed $4 billion for the quarter.

Conversely, Dell’s Client Solutions Group, which includes laptops and PCs, reported $12.48 billion in revenue, slightly below the $12.65 billion forecast and reflecting a 3 percent year-over-year gain. This segment faced a 7 percent decline in PC and laptop shipments, underscoring ongoing headwinds in traditional computing markets.

Shareholder Returns and Strategic Positioning
Dell returned $1.6 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends during the quarter. As a leading vendor for Nvidia-powered AI systems, Dell remains a key bellwether for the health of the AI infrastructure industry. While hyperscalers have been the primary buyers of Nvidia systems globally, Dell’s focus on enterprise and government clients positions it to capture a growing segment of AI demand outside the cloud giants.

The combination of AI-driven growth, cautious recovery in the PC segment, and disciplined capital returns positions Dell as a resilient player in both traditional and emerging technology markets heading into fiscal 2026.