Dell Technologies has delivered a blockbuster quarter fueled by artificial intelligence infrastructure, but the stock is retreating from its 52-week high as insiders cash in and technical indicators flash caution. Shares closed Friday at €352.50, down nearly 3% on the day and roughly 15% below Tuesday’s peak of €416.10. The relative strength index — at 73 in the primary report and 77.2 in the secondary — confirms an overbought condition after a twelve-month rally of more than 260%.
The pullback comes despite financial results that smashed expectations. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Dell reported adjusted earnings per share of $4.86, far above the $2.96 analysts had forecast, while revenue surged 88% year over year to $43.84 billion. The diluted EPS figure reached $5.24, a 282% jump. The primary driver is the Infrastructure Solutions unit, where AI-optimized server revenue exploded 757% to $16.1 billion. Chief executive Michael Dell flagged approximately $24.4 billion in new AI orders during the quarter, lifting the total backlog to a record $51.3 billion.
Management promptly raised its full-year guidance, now expecting revenue between $165 billion and $169 billion, with AI servers alone contributing roughly $60 billion. The company also highlighted early positioning in premium AI PCs powered by Nvidia’s new RTX Spark chip, adding another growth vector.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Dell?
Yet even as the fundamentals strengthen, selling pressure from large shareholders has intensified. A Securities and Exchange Commission filing on June 5 revealed extensive sales of Class C common stock by entities tied to Silver Lake, spanning March through June. On June 2 alone, Silver Lake Group and affiliated parties disposed of shares worth about $8.2 million. The previous day, Silver Lake Partners V DE and Dell board member Egon Durban sold stock valued at roughly $15.8 million. Separately, Silver Lake entities unloaded 176,754 shares at an average price of $438.91, generating proceeds of around $77.6 million. Together, the insider disposals in early June amount to well over $100 million.
Analysts, however, remain broadly bullish. Goldman Sachs reiterated its buy rating with a $500 price target. Bernstein SocGen Group and Mizuho also lifted their targets to $500, while Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from underweight to equalweight with a $448 target. The consensus view is that demand for AI servers remains robust and Dell stands as a direct beneficiary of the infrastructure boom.
The tension is now between soaring operational momentum and the weight of profit-taking after a steep ascent. With a 78.68% monthly gain and a year-to-date advance of 233.13%, the stock has priced in enormous optimism. The market’s immediate task is to find a new equilibrium — whether continued AI order flow will justify the valuation, or whether further insider sales will accelerate the correction.
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