Dell Technologies (DELL) stock fell after the company gave a mixed revenue outlook for the current quarter, slipping 1% in pre-market trading after a 6% drop in the last session.
For the latest quarter, Dell (DELL) reported adjusted earnings of $1.91bn (£1.52bn), or $2.68 per share, an increase from $1.66bn, or $2.27 per share, a year ago. While the company exceeded expectations, its revenue of $23.9bn, up 7% year-over-year, slightly missed analyst consensus from Visible Alpha.
A key driver of growth was Dell’s (DELL) servers and networking division, where revenue surged by 37%, reaching $6.6bn. This rise was fuelled by strong demand for both AI and traditional server products.
Looking forward, Dell (DELL) anticipates significant growth in its AI business. For the fiscal year ending in January 2026, the company expects to ship $15bn worth of AI servers, marking a 50% increase over the $9.8bn shipped in the prior fiscal year.
“We’re well positioned to capture growth across every segment of our business,” Jeff Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer, said. “Our prospects for AI are strong, as we extend AI from the largest cloud service providers, into the enterprise at-scale, and out to the edge with the PC.”
Still, Dell (DELL) said its gross margin in the fiscal year will decline one percentage point from a year earlier. AI hardware has squeezed the company’s profitability, largely due to the need for expensive chips from Nvidia (NVDA).
Total earnings, excluding some items, will be about $9.30 a share on sales of $101bn to $105bn in the fiscal year ending in January 2026, the Texas-based company said in the statement. Analysts, on average, projected profit of $9.24 a share on revenue of $103bn.
Shares in the e-commerce company were lower in pre-market trading, as were most Asian equities, as the world’s second largest economy prepares for fresh tariffs to be imposed by Donald Trump.
The Chinese president said: “At present, the unfavourable impact of changes in the external environment has deepened, and China’s economy still faces numerous difficulties and challenges.”
Xi Jinping, who was writing in the ruling Communist Party’s official journal, said: “At the same time, it must be recognised that China’s economic fundamentals remain solid, with numerous advantages, strong resilience, and vast potential.
“The conditions supporting long-term growth and the overall positive trajectory have not changed.”
It comes as China’s foreign ministry said it strongly opposes the threat of an additional 10% tariffs from the US president and will take “all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate interest”.
Meanwhile, Alibaba (BABA) has announced a £41.5bn investment in artificial intelligence and cloud computing over the next three years.
ASML (ASML) stock was higher in pre-market trading after losing 6.5% on Wednesday as investors have had more time to digest the Dutch semiconductor equipment company’s earnings.
The Dutch firm on Wednesday reported earnings per share of €6.85, ahead of the €6.68 expected, and its quarterly revenue of €9.2bn topped the €9bn forecast, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.
The company reported taking orders of more than €7bn worth of its tools in the fourth quarter, double the €3.5bn (£2.89bn) expected. Half of that value came from orders of its EUV machines for AI chips, the company said in a call with analysts Wednesday.
ASML (ASML) invented the technology required to make the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence chips and is the only manufacturer of the complex machines that use its EUV lithography technology. The latest version of those EUV machines costs nearly $400m.
ASML (ASML) sells its machines to chip manufacturers such as TSMC (TSM), which uses those machines to produce chips for Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), and other tech companies.
"Consistent with our view from the last quarter, the growth in artificial intelligence is the key driver for growth in our industry,” CEO Christophe Fouquet said in a statement.
"It has created a shift in the market dynamics that is not benefiting all of our customers equally, which creates both opportunities and risks as reflected in our 2025 revenue range.”
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has experienced a sharp decline, plummeting by 25% over the past month as broader market uncertainty continues to impact the cryptocurrency landscape.
This week, bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell below $80,000 for the first time since November, dropping as much as 7.1% in a single day. The cryptocurrency’s low of $78,956 marks a stark contrast to the highs of over $109,000 reached just a month ago.
Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, pointed out that the current market sentiment mirrors the crisis of 2022 when prices collapsed during the so-called “crypto winter” amid rising interest rates and the collapse of the FTX exchange.
She added that the recent downturn could be linked to broader macroeconomic fears, including concerns surrounding Trump’s tariffs and escalating geopolitical tensions.
“This tanking can be viewed as a response to macro fears on Trump’s tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty,” Bowler said.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is now on track for its worst month in three years. The last time the largest cryptocurrency fell as much as June 2022, when it fell by more than a third. This week alone, BTC has dropped almost 18%, the steepest slide since the week ended Nov. 13 of the same year.
British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG.L) beat expectations in its full-year results as strong travel demand in the post-pandemic era continued through 2024.
The airline conglomerate reported operating profit of €4.3bn (£3.6bn), up 22% year-on-year and ahead of the €3.7bn analysts had forecast.
Revenue also came in ahead of expectations, rising 9% to €32.1bn.
Following the performance, IAG (IAG.L) announced a €1bn share buyback programme to be implemented over the next 12 months.
“We have seen ongoing strong demand for travel throughout 2024 and now into 2025, particularly across our core markets,” said IAG (IAG.L), which owns five airlines including Spain’s Iberia and Ireland’s Aer Lingus.
Its passenger revenue per available seat kilometre flown increased by 3.1%, while fuel costs per unit declined by 5.2%.
British Airways made an operating profit of £2bn, up from £1.3bn in 2023. That was secured with a 14.2% margin.
Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple andAndroid.
