Dell stock gains 9%, and it has Super Micro Computer to thank for

Dell Technologies Inc. DELL shares moved 9% higher on Wednesday after Super Micro Computer released a stronger-than-expected preliminary update that reinforced expectations for continued spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The rally followed Super Micro's announcement that it received more than $60 billion in new orders during its fiscal fourth quarter, driving its order backlog to a record high.

The update lifted sentiment across AI hardware stocks as investors viewed the results as evidence of sustained demand from enterprise customers and hyperscale cloud providers.

Dell and Super Micro both assemble Nvidia graphics processing units into AI server racks, making Dell one of the companies expected to benefit from continued investment in AI infrastructure.

Super Micro update boosts AI infrastructure outlook

Investor optimism spread across the server hardware sector after Super Micro reported record order activity despite guiding revenue toward the lower end of its previously announced fourth-quarter range of $11 billion to $12.5 billion.

The company's outlook for gross margins, however, exceeded expectations, with projected margins of between 15% and 17%, well above previous guidance.

The strong order intake overshadowed the softer revenue outlook and suggested that demand for AI servers remains robust.

The update provided a positive read-through for companies supplying AI infrastructure, including Dell, which has positioned itself as a major provider of enterprise AI servers powered by Nvidia chips.

Dell has already reported an AI backlog of $51.3 billion, representing 85.5% of its annual sales target.

The company also said first-quarter fiscal 2027 AI-optimized server revenue reached $16.1 billion, a 757% increase from a year earlier, contributing to total quarterly revenue of $43.8 billion.

The company serves more than 5,000 active AI customers.

Analysts remain optimistic ahead of earnings

Wall Street analysts continue to maintain positive expectations for Dell as demand for AI computing infrastructure expands.

Evercore ISI recently raised its price target on Dell to $500 while maintaining an Outperform rating, citing confidence in the company's position within the AI infrastructure market.

JPMorgan also increased its target price to $550 and reiterated its Overweight rating.

Morgan Stanley lifted its target to $477, pointing to continued enterprise server demand driven by AI infrastructure spending, compute shortages and hardware refresh cycles.

The broader analyst consensus price target stands near $503, above Dell's recent share price.

According to Fiscal.ai estimates, analysts expect Dell to report revenue of $44.39 billion for the quarter ending July 2026, representing nearly 50% year-over-year growth.

Earnings per share are projected to reach $4.90, compared with $2.32 during the same period a year earlier.

Technical picture remains constructive

Dell shares continue to trade above their major moving averages, reflecting a strong longer-term trend.

The stock remains approximately 5.2% above its 20-day simple moving average and nearly 17% above its 50-day moving average. It also trades well above its 200-day moving average, with the bullish golden cross formed earlier this year remaining intact.

Momentum indicators suggest that upside momentum has moderated.

The moving average convergence divergence indicator remains below its signal line, indicating that while the broader trend remains positive, the pace of gains has slowed.

Key technical levels include resistance around $463.50 and support near $378.50, an area that aligns closely with the 50-day moving average and may serve as an important level for investors monitoring the stock's trend.