Dell Technologies stock surged in morning trading, rising +15.0% to $290.68 and touching an intraday 52-week high of $291.17. The sharp advance followed a widespread round of analyst price-target increases that sparked renewed buying ahead of Dell’s first-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings report, scheduled for May 28.
Several major firms adjusted their views on the company, citing continued momentum in AI infrastructure and improving enterprise AI demand signals. Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target, pointing to sustained AI infrastructure momentum and improving enterprise AI demand signals. Bank of America also raised its price target while maintaining a bullish rating.
Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers lifted his firm’s price target to $270 from $180 while keeping an Overweight rating. JPMorgan raised its target to $280 from $205 and retained an Overweight stance. Citigroup increased its price target to $290 from $235, explicitly citing "strong neocloud/sovereign AI demand and improving enterprise mix" as key growth drivers. Even Morgan Stanley, which remains the lone bearish voice on the Street, boosted its price target to $170 from $110 but kept an Underweight rating.
Investors are approaching the May 28 earnings release with elevated expectations. Consensus forecasts point to a 93.6% year-over-year increase in earnings per share to $3.00, and revenue growth of 51.7% to $35.46 billion. Analysts are broadly projecting a positive earnings surprise, reflecting what market participants view as robust AI server demand.
Underlying the market optimism are Dell’s AI business metrics for fiscal year 2026. The company reported AI orders totaling $64.1 billion, with shipments of $25.2 billion during the year. Dell exited the fiscal year with an AI backlog of $43 billion, and management is guiding toward roughly $50 billion in AI revenue for fiscal 2027 - approximately 100% year-over-year growth.
At its Dell Technologies World 2026 conference, the company introduced a suite of new products and upgrades designed to accelerate AI workloads, including advanced storage, server, and security solutions. Those product announcements form part of the narrative analysts are citing as supporting continued strength in AI-related sales.
The broader U.S. equity market provided a modestly supportive backdrop on the trading day, with the S&P 500 up +0.45%, the Dow Jones up +0.67%, and the NASDAQ up +0.29%. These wider market gains, however, were small compared with DELL’s outsized move, suggesting the rally was driven primarily by firm-specific news.
The combination of a synchronized analyst upgrade cycle, a record AI server backlog, and elevated earnings expectations has created a high-conviction setup for Dell heading into next week’s report. With the stock reaching a new 52-week high at $291.17, market participants appear to be pricing in an ongoing shift in Dell’s franchise toward a larger role in AI infrastructure.
Note: This article presents reported analyst actions, corporate metrics, and consensus expectations as stated above and does not add new forecasts or external commentary.