Dell raises full-year outlook after record AI server quarter

Dell Technologies raised its full-year outlook after a record second quarter. In its Q2 fiscal 2027 results, the company posted revenue of $47.0 billion, up 58% from a year earlier, and lifted its full-year FY27 revenue guidance by $25 billion to a $192.0 billion midpoint, about 69% growth.

The engine was AI servers. Dell booked a record $60.9 billion in AI server orders and recognized a record $16.4 billion in AI server revenue for the quarter.

The backlog is the figure that tells you how much of the raised guide is already spoken for. Dell's AI server backlog, orders it has signed but not yet shipped or booked as revenue, reached a record $95 billion. That is forward demand, not cash in the quarter.

Dell now expects $74.0 billion of AI-optimized server revenue for the full year, up from a prior $60.0 billion guide. It raised full-year non-GAAP diluted EPS guidance to $25.50 and GAAP diluted EPS to $24.37, per the company's tables, and returned a record $4.3 billion to shareholders in the quarter through buybacks and dividends.

"IT environments have shifted from cost centers to value drivers that fuel growth and competitive advantage, and customers are investing accordingly," said Jeff Clarke, Dell's vice chairman and chief operating officer.

In a separate blog post, CFO David Kennedy said Dell grew its AI customer base from 5,000 to 6,500 in a single quarter and claimed it was first to ship rack systems on Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform. Both are company statements. That AI buildout still runs on someone else's memory and chips, which is why the same quarter that lifts Dell also lifts suppliers like SK Hynix pouring $4 billion into HBM packaging in Indiana.

The full-year figures are guidance, and "AI-optimized servers" is Dell's own category, so the $74 billion line does not map cleanly onto a rival's disclosure. The $95 billion converts to revenue only if customers take delivery and Dell can source the chips to fill them, the same tension that has pressured margins at buyers like Alibaba even as AI spend keeps climbing.