NEW YORK, March 2, 2026, 14:21 ET — Regular session
- Dell shares rose about 1.9% in afternoon trading as the company declared a $0.63 quarterly dividend.
- Bernstein reiterated an Outperform rating, pointing to continued momentum in AI servers.
- Investors are watching for fresh comments on demand and margins at a March 4 conference appearance by Dell’s CFO.
Dell Technologies (DELL) shares rose nearly 2% on Monday after the company said its board declared a quarterly cash dividend, keeping the hardware maker in focus after a sharp run tied to artificial intelligence server demand.
The dividend call matters now because investors have been pressing PC and server makers to pair AI-fueled growth talk with tangible cash returns. Dell has leaned into that message, and the stock is trading like a name the market wants to own for the AI build-out, at least for now.
The question is whether the next leg comes from fundamentals or sentiment. Traders have been quick to chase anything linked to data centers, but they have also punished margin slips.
Dell shares were up 1.9% at $150.83 in afternoon trade after opening at $147.50. The stock traded between $149.96 and $151.00, with about 8.1 million shares changing hands. The S&P 500 ETF SPY was flat and the Nasdaq-focused QQQ was slightly higher.
Dell said the dividend will be $0.63 per common share, payable on May 1 to shareholders of record as of April 21. 1
Bernstein analyst Mark Newman reiterated an Outperform rating and a $180 price target on Monday, saying Dell’s “solid execution and strong position as the leading AI Server OEM” has kept results running ahead of expectations. 2
Late last week, Dell forecast fiscal 2027 revenue above Wall Street expectations and said annual AI server revenue would rise about 103% to roughly $50 billion, alongside a $10 billion expansion to its share repurchase program and a higher dividend. 3
Dell’s pitch puts it in the middle of two crowded fights: servers for AI training and inference, and a PC market that can swing with corporate refresh cycles. Competitors range from HP Inc and Lenovo on PCs to Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Super Micro in servers.
But the rally has risks. Investors have focused on higher memory costs — DRAM, a key memory chip used in PCs — and the chance that pricing pressure or supply constraints could squeeze margins if demand cools or shifts. 4
Next up, investors will look to Wednesday, March 4, when Dell CFO David Kennedy is scheduled to speak in a fireside chat at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. 5
