Dell Technologies has significantly raised its long-term revenue and profit growth forecasts, reflecting the booming global demand for servers powering artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
Dell now expects compounded annual revenue growth between 7 percent and 9 percent, up from its earlier target of 3 percent to 4 percent. Dell also doubled its annual adjusted earnings per share (EPS) growth forecast to at least 15 percent, compared to the previous estimate of 8 percent, citing strong demand for computing power needed to run generative AI applications like ChatGPT.
“Customers are hungry for AI and the compute, storage and networking we provide to deploy intelligence at scale. We’re translating that demand into growth and strong cash flow that we’ve largely returned to shareholders,” said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, said in a news statement.
The announcement sent Dell’s shares up nearly 7 percent in premarket trading as investors reacted positively to its strengthened financial outlook and growing leadership in AI infrastructure solutions.
Strong AI and Infrastructure Momentum
Dell’s customers include leading AI innovators such as Elon Musk’s xAI and CoreWeave, both relying on Dell’s high-performance servers for large-scale AI training and deployment. The company had earlier increased its forecast for AI server shipments to $20 billion in fiscal 2026, emphasizing its growing dominance in the AI infrastructure market.
According to Dell’s executive team, the company’s engineering, deployment, and ecosystem capabilities, combined with its industry-leading supply chain, give it a competitive edge as AI adoption accelerates across enterprises and governments worldwide.
Analysts at TrendForce estimate the AI server segment will be valued at ~ $298 billion in 2025. They expect AI servers to constitute over 70 percent of total server market value in 2025. TrendForce projects ~28 percent year-over-year growth in AI server unit shipments in 2025.
Gartner expects global AI spending (across infrastructure, software, services) to exceed US$2 trillion in 2026, up from ~US$1.5 trillion in 2025. Within that, Gartner projects that spending on AI-optimized servers / infrastructure will rise from ~US$268 billion in 2025 to ~US$330 billion in 2026 (a ~23 percent growth).
PC Refresh Cycle to Boost Demand
Beyond AI, Dell stands to benefit from a strong PC refresh cycle as Microsoft ends support for Windows 10 next week. The move is expected to drive fresh demand from consumers and enterprises upgrading their systems for enhanced security and performance, benefiting major PC makers including Dell and HP.
IDC has trimmed its PC growth outlook. It forecasts 273 million units shipped in 2025, reflecting ~3.7 percent growth over 2024. Beyond 2025, IDC expects sub-1 percent annual growth for the traditional PC market through 2029, as the market stabilizes after the Windows 11 migration. IDC says that 2026 new PCs will largely be GenAI-capable.
Canalys projects 5.8 percent growth in global PC market to ~ 272 million units in 2025. They expect AI-capable PCs to surpass 100 million units in 2025, i.e., ~ 40 percent share of the PC market. Longer term, they forecast AI PC shipments hitting 205 million units by 2028, with a ~44 percent CAGR from 2024–2028.
Gartner expects ~2.4 percent growth PC market in 2025, with some of the early gains driven by tariff-driven inventory surges and refresh cycles. Regarding AI PCs, Gartner expects ~77.8 million units in 2025 (31 percent share), rising to 143 million units (55 percent share) in 2026. They expect by end-2026, 100 percent of enterprise PC purchases will be AI PCs, driven by adoption of on-device AI in tools and applications.
Outlook
Dell’s aggressive long-term targets signal growing confidence in its position as a global leader in AI infrastructure and enterprise technology.
Rajani Baburajan
