Dell shares soar 15% after beating earnings expectations, cites rising demand for AI servers

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Shares of Dell Technologies popped more than 15% in extended trading Thursday after the company released fourth-quarter results that beat analysts' estimates and showed strong demand for its artificial intelligence servers.

Here's how the company did:

• Earnings per share: $2.20 adjusted vs. $1.73 expected by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv
• Revenue: $22.32 billion vs. $22.16 billion expected by LSEG

Dell's revenue for the fiscal 2024 fourth quarter fell 11% from $25.04 billion in the year ago quarter. The company reported a net income $1.16 billion, up 89% from the $614 million it posted in the same period last year.

CFO Yvonne McGill said in a release the company is increasing its annual dividend by 20% to $1.78 per share, which she called a "testament to our confidence in the business."

Dell's Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) reported $9.3 billion in revenue for the quarter, down 6% year-over-year but up 10% from the third quarter. Servers and networking revenue made up the bulk of that, with $4.9 billion in revenue driven by "AI-optimized servers." Storage revenue came in at $4.5 billion.

The company's Client Solutions Group (CSG) reported $11.7 billion for the quarter, down 12% year-over-year. That includes $9.6 billion in commercial client revenue, which fell 11% since the fourth quarter of last year, and $2.2 billion in consumer revenue, down 19% year over year.

"Our strong AI-optimized server momentum continues, with orders increasing nearly 40% sequentially and backlog nearly doubling, exiting our fiscal year at $2.9 billion," Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said in the release.

For its first quarter, Dell said during its quarterly call with investors that it expects to report revenue between $21 billion and $22 billion.

The company said it is encouraged by momentum around AI, and that it expects to return to growth for fiscal 2025. However, the company noted that the macroeconomic environment is causing some customers to be cautious about infrastructure costs.

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