Dell Technologies Inc. Q2 FY2027 earnings call

• Record Financial Execution: The company delivered record revenue of $47 billion (+58% YoY) and record EPS of $7.04 (+203% YoY), driven by strong demand across all segments.
• AI Infrastructure Dominance: Booked a record $60.9 billion in AI server orders in Q2, bringing the trailing twelve-month bookings to over $130 billion. Exited the quarter with a record $95 billion AI backlog. Became the first to ship rack systems on the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform.
• Traditional Server Modernization: Traditional server revenue surged 122% due to data center modernization, security/resilience requirements, and agentic AI workloads requiring CPU compute. Gained >10 points of market share in two quarters; significant refresh opportunity remains as 1.2 million assets are 14th Gen or older.
• Storage Growth and Share Gain: Storage revenue grew 26%, marking six consecutive quarters of demand growth above market. Dell IP storage products drove profitability improvements, with PowerStore posting double-digit demand growth for nine consecutive quarters.
• Operational Leverage and Efficiency: Operating expenses were managed effectively at 8.5% of revenue (-250 bps sequentially). The four-year operating expense rate guidance is set at ~8%, the lowest in the company's 42-year history.
• Capital Return: Returned an all-time record $4.3 billion to shareholders in Q2 via buybacks and dividends. Ended the quarter with $14.2 billion in cash and investments and a core leverage ratio of 0.8x.

• ISG (Infrastructure Solutions Group): Revenue of $31.8 billion, up 89% year-over-year, representing 67.7% of total revenue. Operating income was $4.8 billion with a 15.0% operating margin.
• CSG (Client Solution Groups): Revenue of $15.0 billion, up 20% year-over-year, representing 31.9% of total revenue. Operating income was $1.1 billion with a 7.6% operating margin.

• Q3 Guidance: Revenue expected to be $49 billion (midpoint), up ~80% YoY. ISG revenue expected to grow ~145%, supported by $19 billion in AI server revenue. CSG revenue expected to grow ~15%. Diluted non-GAAP EPS expected to be $6.50 (+>150% YoY).
• Full-Year FY2027 Guidance: Revenue raised by $25 billion to $192 billion (midpoint), up ~70% YoY. Diluted non-GAAP EPS expected to be $25.50 (+~150% YoY).
• Segment Growth Expectations: ISG expected to grow ~120% driven by AI server revenue tripling YoY to $74 billion. Traditional servers expected to grow >100%. Storage expected to grow in the mid-teens. CSG expected to grow in the mid-teens.
• Margin Outlook: Gross margin rate improved over the past 90 days. Operating income expected to grow ~120% with >2 points of rate improvement. Operating expenses targeted at ~8% of revenue.

• Supply Constraints: Demand currently outstrips supply, particularly in traditional and AI servers, which limits realized revenue despite strong order books.
• Execution Complexity: AI infrastructure deployments require significant engineering, design, and deployment expertise (up to 50 unique designs per engagement), posing execution risks if capabilities are not scaled appropriately.
• Security and Resilience Drivers: While driving demand, heightened security requirements (e.g., post-quantum cryptography) force rapid infrastructure updates, creating dependency on continuous modernization cycles.

Q: Amit Daryani asked if the strong non-AI ISG growth (traditional servers +122%, storage +26%) was driven by pre-buys/pricing rather than durable demand, and what workloads were driving it.

A: Jeff Clarke attributed growth to structural data center modernization, consolidation of aged install bases (1.2M assets are 14G+), and security/resilience mandates like post-quantum crypto. David Kennedy confirmed durability, noting pipelines are building and second-half guidance maintains these high growth rates, indicating a broad-based ecosystem rather than one-time effects.

Q: Ben Reitzes asked if Dell’s long-term growth could sustain rates higher than partner NVIDIA (expected ~70% growth), given the surging backlog and new CPU racks.

A: David Kennedy highlighted that second-half growth (~68%) mirrors the first half, driven by enterprises shifting IT from cost centers to value creators. Jeff Clarke added that agentic AI is reshaping the data center, with inference tokens projected to grow 87x by 2030. He emphasized Dell’s differentiated engineering and deployment speed ('first token' capability) positions them to capture a trillion-dollar opportunity across neoclouds, sovereigns, and enterprises.

Q: Mark Newman requested details on customer mix for traditional vs. AI servers, specifically whether enterprise customers are driving the massive traditional server growth or if NeoClouds/CSPs are involved.

A: Jeff Clarke clarified that the 122% traditional server growth is primarily from historical enterprise customers dealing with aged install bases and security needs. However, AI server adoption is accelerating among enterprises, with the customer base growing from 3,200 to 6,500+, where repeat buyers tend to purchase more complete solutions including storage and networking.