Dell Technologies is about to sit at the same table as Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
The company will join the S&P 100 index on Sept. 21, 2026, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Dell (DELL) stock has climbed roughly 700% over the past three years, which puts the hardware giant squarely in the same conversation as the market’s biggest names.
The same rebalancing also adds Palo Alto Networks, Arista Networks, and SanDisk, while removing Nike, Simon Property Group, and Colgate-Palmolive.
Why Dell stock is on an absolute tear
Dell’s surge is not random. It is tied directly to demand for AI infrastructure, the servers, storage, and networking gear that power artificial intelligence.
In fiscal Q2 of 2027 (ended in July), Dell reported revenue of $47 billion, an increase of 58% year over year. Meanwhile, earnings per share more than tripled year over year to $7.04.
The Infrastructure Solutions Group, which includes AI servers, storage, and networking, posted revenue of $31.8 billion, up 89%.
Related: Analyst resets Dell stock price target after earnings
Dell booked $60.9 billion in AI orders during Q2, a fresh record, and ended the period with a $95 billion AI server backlog.
Here is a quick snapshot of what pushed those numbers higher:
- AI server orders topped $131.7 billion over the past 12 months.
- Traditional server revenue jumped 122% as companies replace aging equipment.
- Storage revenue grew 26%, its sixth straight quarter of demand growth above the market.
- PC revenue in Dell’s Client Solutions Group rose 20%, its fastest pace in five years.
- Operating expenses fell to about 8% of revenue, the lowest level in the company’s 42-year history.
CEO Michael Dell addressed the durability of that demand directly at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference on Sept. 9. He pointed to a structural gap between AI chip supply and what companies need.
“All of the improvements in the models, particularly from basic LLMs to reasoning to agents, has occurred well within the timeframe required to build a new semiconductor fab,” Dell said. “You just have a structural shortage, probably worse in 2027 than in 2026 from everything that we see.”
What the S&P 100 addition means for Dell stock
Getting added to the S&P 100 is not just a symbolic honor. The inclusion forces index funds and institutional portfolios that track the benchmark to buy shares, adding a fresh layer of short-term demand.
The S&P 100 is a subset of the broader S&P 500, made up of the 100 largest and most established companies by market value.
Membership signals that a stock has grown large and stable enough to be treated as a core holding rather than a speculative bet.
For Dell, the timing lines up with a business that is scaling fast.
The company raised its full-year revenue guidance by $25 billion, to $192 billion, and now expects AI server revenue to triple year over year to $74 billion. Full-year earnings per share guidance sits at $25.50, up roughly 150%.
Chief Financial Officer David Kennedy told analysts on the Sept. 1 earnings call that the company generated $8.1 billion in adjusted free cash flow during the quarter and returned an all-time record $4.3 billion to shareholders, including share buybacks at an average price of $401 per share.
What’s next for Dell stock price target
Dell’s leadership sees a long runway ahead.
COO Jeff Clarke told investors the firm expects the AI infrastructure market to be worth more than a trillion dollars by 2030, with AI making up 75% of all data center demand by then.
Clarke also pointed to a massive installed base of aging equipment still waiting to be replaced.
More AI:
- Nvidia just made a move Wall Street wasn’t ready for
- Microsoft just took sides in AI policy fight
- OpenAI just disclosed something genuinely alarming
Dell said 1.2 million servers in its customer base are still running on 14th generation hardware or older, a backlog of upgrades that should keep demand strong well beyond this year.
Michael Dell echoed that view, describing the company as still early in a broader shift where businesses reorganize around AI rather than simply buying faster computers.
“I would say we’re really at the very beginning of that in most companies,” Dell said. “They don’t know how to do it. It’s hard.”
Whether Dell stock keeps climbing at its recent pace is a separate question from the S&P 100 news.
But the index addition confirms what the stock’s run already suggested. Wall Street now views Dell as core infrastructure for the AI economy.
Out of the 21 analysts covering Dell stock, 14 recommend “Buy,” and seven recommend “Hold.” The average DELL stock price target is $595, above the current price of $535.
Related: Goldman Sachs resets Dell stock price target by $60
