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Seven quarters of double-digit growth: AI is turning Dell into an armory of artificial intelligence
Dell's ISG division, which includes servers, storage, and networking solutions, reports seven consecutive quarters of double-digit year-over-year growth. The main driver is AI servers — powerful computing systems equipped with Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) that serve as the computational backbone for training and running large language models.
In the third quarter alone, Dell received AI server orders worth $12.3 billion and shipped goods worth $5.6 billion. Cumulatively over the first three quarters of fiscal year 2026, orders reached $30 billion. To put that in perspective: that's roughly double Slovenia's annual GDP.
Dell expects to deliver approximately $9.4 billion worth of AI servers in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, which would bring total shipments for the full fiscal year to $25 billion — a 150% year-over-year increase.
Who's buying: from Neoclouds to governments
Demand for AI servers comes from a surprisingly diverse range of customers. According to a Zacks Investment Research report that analyzed data from Dell's earnings calls, the main buyers include:
- Neoclouds — a new generation of cloud providers specializing exclusively in AI computing (e.g. CoreWeave, Lambda Labs),
- Tier 2 cloud providers — smaller players competing with hyperscalers like AWS and Azure,
- Sovereign clouds — state and government infrastructures building their own AI capabilities beyond the reach of American giants,
- Enterprise — large corporations across industries deploying AI into their internal processes.
The sovereign cloud segment is particularly interesting from a European perspective. The European Union is pushing for digital sovereignty — the ability to operate critical infrastructure independently of non-European providers. The GAIA-X project and other initiatives are driving demand for hardware that European states and companies can fully control.
Liquid cooling and the IREN partnership: Dell bets on sustainability
In November 2025, Dell announced a partnership with IREN — a next-generation data center operator running on 100% renewable energy. Together, they are deploying liquid-cooled AI infrastructure based on Nvidia GPUs across North America.
A key component is the Dell PowerEdge XE9712 server equipped with the Nvidia GB300 NVL72 platform, which connects 72 GPUs into a single computing unit. The first cluster of this type was launched in Canada and runs exclusively on renewable energy.
Liquid cooling is not just green marketing. Modern AI chips like the Nvidia B300 have a thermal output exceeding 1000 W per unit. Traditional air cooling can't handle such a density of computing power — liquid removes heat up to 3,000× more efficiently than air.
The competition isn't sleeping: HPE opens an AI lab in Europe
But Dell isn't alone in the market. The main competitors are Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Super Micro Computer (Supermicro). Both companies are aggressively expanding in AI infrastructure.
HPE, in collaboration with Nvidia, opened an AI Factory Lab in Grenoble — right in the heart of Europe. The lab targets European customers who demand greater control and autonomy over their AI infrastructure. It's a direct response to European demand for sovereign AI solutions.
Supermicro, meanwhile, has expanded its Nvidia Blackwell portfolio with liquid-cooled HGX B300 systems, offering up to 144 GPUs per rack, 2.1 TB of HBM3e memory, and improved cooling. They're targeting hyperscalers and so-called AI factories — massive computing centers dedicated exclusively to training AI models.
Dell stock: a value investment in a growth sector?
Despite impressive operational numbers, Dell's stock has risen only 3.6% over the past six months, while the broader tech sector gained 20.4% and competing computer manufacturers surged as much as 35%. The reason may be investor concerns about tight margins in the AI server business — servers with a high share of expensive Nvidia GPUs have lower margins than traditional enterprise storage.
From a valuation standpoint, however, Dell looks attractive. A price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 0.69 is dramatically lower than the tech sector average (6.62). Analysts expect earnings of $9.89 per share for fiscal year 2026, representing 21.5% year-over-year growth.
What does this mean for Czech companies?
Czech businesses and institutions seeking AI infrastructure benefit from the intensified competition between Dell, HPE, and Supermicro. More competition means lower prices and faster innovation.
Dell has a strong presence in the Czech market — both directly and through partners like M Computers or Alza. PowerEdge servers are commonly available in configurations for AI computing. For smaller Czech companies, the key point is that the AI infrastructure boom is also creating smaller, more affordable configurations suitable for local deployment.
Why are AI server orders growing so fast?
Demand is being driven by several factors simultaneously: companies across industries are deploying AI into production, states are building sovereign clouds, and new models like GPT-5.5 or Claude Opus require increasingly powerful hardware. Each new generation of AI models needs roughly 3–5× more computing power than the previous one.
Are Dell servers suitable for smaller AI projects at Czech companies?
Yes. Dell offers a scalable portfolio ranging from single GPUs to entire racks. For smaller projects, such as fine-tuning open-source models or running inference, even a simple server with 1–2 GPUs is sufficient. In the Czech Republic, these configurations are available through authorized partners.
What impact does the AI infrastructure boom have on the environment?
The energy intensity of AI is a real problem. That's why Dell is investing in liquid cooling, which reduces cooling energy consumption by up to 40%. The IREN partnership also indicates a trend toward data centers powered exclusively by renewable sources.
