Dell Technologies Inc. shares dropped 2.0% in morning trading Friday, continuing a decline that started after a downgrade earlier in the week and pressures in the AI-related sector.

Barclays analyst Tim Long cut the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight on October 14, lowering his price target to $574 from $603. Long questioned whether the stock's rally of more than 300% year-to-date reflected actual demand fundamentals.

The analyst stated that "the strong enterprise revenues are more of a function of memory costs than a move to enterprise AI at this time." He suggested that a global memory shortage pushed server prices higher, which inflated Dell's revenue figures rather than indicating a real increase in corporate AI adoption.

Insider selling added to the downward pressure. Silver Lake-affiliated insiders sold tens of millions of dollars in Dell shares near the stock's 52-week high of $595.51, creating additional supply in the market.

CEO Michael Dell responded to the concerns, expressing confidence in continued demand for AI infrastructure. The market reaction remained negative, with shares falling to a session low of $451.30 before recovering partially.

Analyst views on Dell remain mixed. Bernstein maintains an Outperform rating with a $650 price target. Morgan Stanley and UBS have pointed to higher valuations and a more difficult near-term outlook for enterprise hardware companies.