Absolutely, and by no small margin: compared with Q1 last year, revenue soared 88% and operating profit skyrocketed 214%.
Once a marginal segment, sales of AI-optimized servers have increased eightfold, becoming the group's primary revenue driver within a single year. The so-called "traditional" server segment is performing just as well, doubling its revenue over twelve months.
Is this trend sustainable? Still perplexed, investors valued Dell at quite conventional multiples at the same time last year. This lasted until the beginning of 2026, which saw its market capitalization triple.
A generous donor to the incumbent president, Dell and its eponymous CEO have had the singular privilege - depending on the angle from which one chooses to observe the situation - of counting Donald Trump amongst the sell-side analysts covering the group.
Donald Trump indeed bought several million dollars worth of Dell shares for his own account before recommending that the public do the same (two months later) - a first in the United States. Yesterday, Dell incidentally announced a contract worth nearly $10bn with the Pentagon.
In an earnings commentary that we published last summer, we highlighted that Dell was counting on AI and the potential role of "grand orchestrator" that naturally suits it to break away from a painful period of business stagnation.
The bet has paid off, at least for now: Dell has returned to growth and achieved the highest margins in its history - records it had previously approached just before the subprime crisis, which everyone will interpret in their own way.
The group was able to return $8bn to its shareholders last year, primarily through share buybacks; the fiscal year now beginning promises to be of a similar magnitude.
With its valuation now also at historical highs, Dell must maintain this commercial trajectory if it hopes to create sustainable value for its shareholders.
