Is Dell Technologies (DELL) a Good Stock to Buy before Earnings?

Tech company Dell Technologies (DELL) is set to report its first-quarter earnings results on May 29 after the market closes. Analysts are expecting earnings per share to come in at $1.71 on revenue of $23.17 billion. This equates to 34.6% and 4.2% year-over-year increases, respectively, according to TipRanks’ data.

This is ideal because earnings per share should grow faster than revenue, as this demonstrates a high degree of operating and financial leverage in the business. It’s also worth noting that DELL has a solid record when it comes to beating earnings estimates, as it has done so for 12 consecutive quarters.

In addition, Dell is gaining attention for its growing presence in the artificial intelligence market, especially after revealing new servers that are powered by Nvidia’s (NVDA) Blackwell chips. Indeed, management has forecasted at least $15 billion in AI server shipments for Fiscal Year 2026, which indicates that the company is confident about its future in the industry. This is because Dell has already built a $9 billion backlog for its AI servers, which highlights the strong demand for its products.

Options Traders Anticipate a Large Move

Using TipRanks’ Options tool, we can see that options traders are expecting a 9% move from DELL stock in either direction right after its earnings report. The expected earnings move is determined by calculating the at-the-money straddle of the options closest to expiration after the earnings announcement.

However, it is worth noting that DELL’s after-earnings price moves in the past 12 quarters have exceeded this expected 9% move seven times and by wide margins. This suggests that the options might present a speculative opportunity to profit from a large post-earnings swing.

Is DELL a Good Buy?

Overall, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on DELL stock based on nine Buys assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average DELL price target of $133.22 per share implies 16.7% upside potential.

See more DELL analyst ratings