Dell stock surges nearly 350% in 2026 as RBC bets on AI infrastructure boom
Dell Technologies shares are extending one of the strongest stock rallies of 2026 after RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage of the company with an “Outperform” rating and a $640 price target.
The bullish call sent Dell shares sharply higher on Friday, with the stock gaining roughly 11% and reaching a record high above $560. The latest jump pushed Dell’s year-to-date gain to about 347%, putting the company’s shares on track for an extraordinary year as investors increasingly view Dell as a major beneficiary of the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom.
RBC sees a multi-year AI opportunity
RBC analyst David Paige said Dell is well positioned to benefit from what he sees as a multi-year cycle of AI infrastructure spending.
The investment bank pointed to Dell’s broad portfolio spanning servers, storage, PCs and other enterprise infrastructure, as well as its supply chain and existing customer base. RBC expects demand for AI investments, computing modernization, storage expansion and PC refreshes to keep Dell’s results above its long-term targets.
The $640 price target represents further upside from Dell’s current trading levels, although the stock’s dramatic gains this year mean investors are already pricing in significant expectations for future growth.
$95 billion AI server backlog
One of the biggest factors behind RBC’s optimism is Dell’s enormous AI server backlog.
According to RBC, Dell ended its fiscal second quarter with approximately $95 billion in server orders that have yet to be fulfilled. The company also generated around $16.4 billion in AI server sales during the quarter, highlighting how quickly its business is shifting toward AI infrastructure.
Dell has emerged as a key supplier of Nvidia-based servers and related equipment used by cloud providers and enterprises building AI computing capacity. The company was also among the first vendors to ship Nvidia’s Grace Blackwell NVL72 systems.
Demand is extending beyond GPUs and servers. Dell’s storage business is also benefiting from AI workloads, with storage revenue rising 26% in its latest quarter.
Dell raises full-year outlook
The latest rally follows strong quarterly results earlier this month. Dell beat analyst expectations for its fiscal second quarter and raised its full-year revenue forecast to $192 billion, which would represent roughly 70% growth from the previous year.
The company has also warned that rising component costs, particularly for memory, are putting pressure on its expenses. However, management said it is raising prices to help offset those higher costs.
For investors, the bigger question is whether Dell can maintain its extraordinary momentum after a nearly 350% gain in a single year. RBC believes the answer is yes, pointing to continued AI infrastructure spending, Dell’s substantial backlog and its ability to provide customers with servers, storage and other components needed to build AI systems.
With AI spending showing few signs of slowing, Dell is increasingly being valued not simply as a traditional PC manufacturer, but as a critical supplier in the infrastructure powering the next phase of the AI boom.
