Dell shares sink after Barclays downgrade on valuation, broader sector pressure

Dell Technologies Inc. shares fell nearly 10% in morning trading Thursday, following a downgrade from Barclays that also affected other AI infrastructure hardware companies, as well as broader marketwide pressures in the sector.

Barclays analyst Tim Long downgraded Dell to Equal Weight from Overweight and reduced his price target to $574 from $603. Long said the stock's run of more than 300% year-to-date has left valuations stretched without a clear increase in enterprise AI spending.

The bank said strong enterprise revenues appear to be driven by memory costs rather than a shift to enterprise AI. This view challenges the reasoning behind Dell's high valuation multiple.

Barclays also downgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise and NetApp on similar valuation concerns, adding pressure across the IT hardware sector.

Recent regulatory filings showed Silver Lake affiliates sold approximately $29.4 million in Dell shares, adding to selling pressure. Dell has reported a $95 billion AI server backlog and raised its fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $192 billion.

Bernstein maintained an Outperform rating on Dell with a $650 price target, calling it the firm's top server pick. This shows a split in analyst views on the stock.

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