Markets DELL JUN 08, 2026

AI server supercycle goes vertical: Dell +757%, HPE biggest day ever as enterprise hardware re-rates

Dell's AI-Optimized Server revenue grew 757% to $16.1B; HPE's best-ever single-day gain followed a $1 EPS guide-raise and $16.4B in cumulative AI bookings.

BY HENLEY MARRAST · MARKETS DESK

Five trading sessions repriced the entire enterprise-hardware complex. Dell Technologies closed up 32.76% on Friday, May 29, eclipsing its March 2024 record of 31.6%, after fiscal Q1 2027 revenue hit $43.84 billion (up 88% year over year) and AI-Optimized Server revenue grew 757% to $16.1 billion. On Monday, June 1, Hewlett Packard Enterprise surged 30% on its own record day, with fiscal Q2 revenue of $10.68 billion against a StreetAccount estimate of $9.79 billion.

The numbers underneath the headline are the story. Dell booked $24.4 billion in AI orders during the quarter and raised full-year AI server guidance to $60 billion, a 144% jump, with total revenue guidance now landing around $167 billion at the midpoint. Adjusted EPS of $4.86 beat the $2.94 consensus by 65%. Ben Reitzes of Melius said he’d “never seen anything like” the quarter. Dell shares are up 234% in 2026.

HPE’s print was, in its own way, more violent. Server revenue (Cloud & AI) came in at $5.45 billion versus a $4.66 billion expectation. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.79 cleared by 26 cents, the company’s biggest beat since February 2018. Cumulative AI Systems bookings now sit at $16.4 billion with $5.9 billion of backlog entering Q3. Management raised FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $3.35–$3.45 from $2.30–$2.50, a full dollar at the midpoint, and lifted free cash flow guidance to at least $3.5 billion from $2 billion. The 8-K said the quarter puts HPE two years ahead of its fiscal 2028 long-term plan. CEO Antonio Neri called demand “healthy across the business.”

Wall Street responded in kind. Bloomberg counted target hikes from at least 12 brokerages, with the median HPE price target jumping to $66 from $26.50. Morgan Stanley flagged that HPE is benefiting from the same pricing dynamic as Dell: customers absorbing higher server ASPs with no visible demand destruction.

That last detail is the one worth holding. The 2017 GPU shortage broke when buyers balked. This cycle, so far, they haven’t.

Sources

About the author

Henley Marrast

MARKETS DESK

Henley Marrast covers AI-equity flow, accelerator demand, and earnings prints for AI Sheet Report. She leads coverage of the public AI complex from the New York markets desk, with a focus on the daily tape and quarterly results. She has been writing about technology markets for several years.