Markets
markets
Matt Phillips

Dell shares hold post-earnings gains as analysts applaud “exceptional beat+raise”

Dell’s across-the-board beat of key earnings metrics delivered after the close of trading Thursday is receiving rave reviews from Wall Street analysts.

Here’s a smattering of the chatter, much of which focused on Dell’s surprising ability to pass a parabolic price surge in memory chip prices through to customers:

Bernstein Research: “Management highlighted record AI server orders of $34.1B and $9.5B of AI server shipments, exiting the quarter with a record $43B AI backlog. Importantly, Dell characterized enterprise as the fastest growing portion of AI portfolio and pipeline, with enterprise AI up both in absolute dollars and as a mix for both shipments and orders, supported by a growing customer base of 4,000+ AI customers and expanding use cases beyond early pilots.”

Mizuho: “Key points: 1) Fiscal 2027 AI server revenues guided up 100% y/y to ~$50B (WELL ABOVE consensus ~$36B), 2) Memory cost impact limited with AI Server operating margin reiterated at mid-single-digit percentage better than feared, with margins stabilizing post-Jan price increases.”

Citi: “An exceptional beat+raise. 4Q revenues upsided expectations (+39% year-over-year) exceeding the top end of their guide while EPS was also higher (+45% year-over-year) on higher margins. Guide also significantly upsided expectations fiscal 2027 estimated revenue up ~25%+, AI revenues to double (core server/storage MSD, CSG 1%) and EPS up 26%, with gross margins ex-AI showing improvement.”

Barclays: “Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) growth was significant — up 73% year-over-year reaching a record $19.6B revenue in the Q, marking eight consecutive quarters of double digit growth. Management expects the strong growth momentum to continue and guided to a doubling of ISG revenues in Q1. AI servers growth accelerated tremendously with $34B of AI server orders in Q4 (up from $12B the prior Q), leading to a total of $64B orders for the fiscal year, which represents a 6x increase year-over-year.”

Morgan Stanley: “Our fiscal 2027 EPS estimate of $10.97 remains well below management’s $12.90. Why? Because we struggle to conceptually understand how — excluding AI servers — DELL can significantly increase prices multiple times through the year, drive over 200 basis points of year-over-year gross margin expansion, and see limited demand elasticity. That’s what the guidance implies.”

Dell soars after beating expectations for Q4 sales and EPS

Bernstein Research: “Management highlighted record AI server orders of $34.1B and $9.5B of AI server shipments, exiting the quarter with a record $43B AI backlog. Importantly, Dell characterized enterprise as the fastest growing portion of AI portfolio and pipeline, with enterprise AI up both in absolute dollars and as a mix for both shipments and orders, supported by a growing customer base of 4,000+ AI customers and expanding use cases beyond early pilots.”

Mizuho: “Key points: 1) Fiscal 2027 AI server revenues guided up 100% y/y to ~$50B (WELL ABOVE consensus ~$36B), 2) Memory cost impact limited with AI Server operating margin reiterated at mid-single-digit percentage better than feared, with margins stabilizing post-Jan price increases.”

Citi: “An exceptional beat+raise. 4Q revenues upsided expectations (+39% year-over-year) exceeding the top end of their guide while EPS was also higher (+45% year-over-year) on higher margins. Guide also significantly upsided expectations fiscal 2027 estimated revenue up ~25%+, AI revenues to double (core server/storage MSD, CSG 1%) and EPS up 26%, with gross margins ex-AI showing improvement.”

Barclays: “Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) growth was significant — up 73% year-over-year reaching a record $19.6B revenue in the Q, marking eight consecutive quarters of double digit growth. Management expects the strong growth momentum to continue and guided to a doubling of ISG revenues in Q1. AI servers growth accelerated tremendously with $34B of AI server orders in Q4 (up from $12B the prior Q), leading to a total of $64B orders for the fiscal year, which represents a 6x increase year-over-year.”

Morgan Stanley: “Our fiscal 2027 EPS estimate of $10.97 remains well below management’s $12.90. Why? Because we struggle to conceptually understand how — excluding AI servers — DELL can significantly increase prices multiple times through the year, drive over 200 basis points of year-over-year gross margin expansion, and see limited demand elasticity. That’s what the guidance implies.”

More Markets

See all Markets
markets
Matt Phillips

Netflix loses the war for Warner Bros., Wall Street sees a win

Netflix opened sharply higher Friday, after it withdrew from the takeover battle for Warner Bros. Discovery, ceding the ground to Paramount Skydance.

You don’t have to be much of a market sleuth to see that Wall Street never liked the idea of Netflix scooping up the assemblage of media and movie properties for a whooping $83 billion price tag.

The stock slumped both on the day Netflix submitted a bid and the day it entered into an acquisition agreement with Warner Bros.

Now, on the back of Netflix declining to raise its bid and dropping out of the race to acquire Warner Bros., the streaming platform’s shares are having their best day since the market’s bounce back from the April tariff tantrum.

Driving the gains are what HSBC analysts call its “graceful exit” from the WBD brouhaha:

“A positive turn of events in our view, as we believe NFLX’s withdrawal from the race will leave it free to refocus on its business, while its closest competitors grapple with long and distracting regulatory approval and merger integration processes, and with Paramount Skydance saddled with sizable deal debts. And one must not forget the $2.8 bllion breakup fee (around 20% of NFLX 2026 estimated EPS) that NFLX will now be owed from WBD for choosing to go with another suitor.”

Netflix declines to raise bid for Warner Bros., paving the way for Paramount to triumph

You don’t have to be much of a market sleuth to see that Wall Street never liked the idea of Netflix scooping up the assemblage of media and movie properties for a whooping $83 billion price tag.

The stock slumped both on the day Netflix submitted a bid and the day it entered into an acquisition agreement with Warner Bros.

Now, on the back of Netflix declining to raise its bid and dropping out of the race to acquire Warner Bros., the streaming platform’s shares are having their best day since the market’s bounce back from the April tariff tantrum.

Driving the gains are what HSBC analysts call its “graceful exit” from the WBD brouhaha:

“A positive turn of events in our view, as we believe NFLX’s withdrawal from the race will leave it free to refocus on its business, while its closest competitors grapple with long and distracting regulatory approval and merger integration processes, and with Paramount Skydance saddled with sizable deal debts. And one must not forget the $2.8 bllion breakup fee (around 20% of NFLX 2026 estimated EPS) that NFLX will now be owed from WBD for choosing to go with another suitor.”

markets
Claire Yubin Oh

OpenAI secures blockbuster $110 billion funding round valuing company at $730 billion

OpenAI has finalized a blockbuster $110 billion funding round, which values the company at $730 billion, not including the money raised.

Per the ChatGPT maker’s announcement, this investment includes $50 billion from Amazon, $30 billion from SoftBank, and $30 billion from Nvidia.

In a separate press release, OpenAI detailed the startup’s new multiyear partnership with Amazon, in which the tech giant will initially invest $15 billion then $35 billion in the coming months when “certain conditions are met,” reportedly when OpenAI goes public or achieves building “artificial general intelligence.” Beyond serving as the exclusive third-party cloud distribution provider for OpenAI Frontier, AWS is also expanding its existing $38 billion agreement with the ChatGPT maker to $100 billion over eight years, with OpenAI committing to consume ~2 gigawatts of AWS’s Trainium capacity.

Scaling AI for everyone

Scaling AI for everyone

In a separate press release, OpenAI detailed the startup’s new multiyear partnership with Amazon, in which the tech giant will initially invest $15 billion then $35 billion in the coming months when “certain conditions are met,” reportedly when OpenAI goes public or achieves building “artificial general intelligence.” Beyond serving as the exclusive third-party cloud distribution provider for OpenAI Frontier, AWS is also expanding its existing $38 billion agreement with the ChatGPT maker to $100 billion over eight years, with OpenAI committing to consume ~2 gigawatts of AWS’s Trainium capacity.

markets
Claire Yubin Oh

Rocket Companies rises on Q4 earnings beat and strong Q1 2026 guidance

Rocket Companies posted Q4 earnings that beat Wall Street expectations and offered a strong Q1 2026 outlook late Thursday, pushing shares up around 6% in premarket trading on Friday.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, the Detroit-based fintech platform reported:

  • Revenue of $2.69 billion, ahead of analyst estimates of $2.27 billion (per data compiled by Bloomberg).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.11, up 75% year over year and beating expectations of $0.09.

After saying that “Rocket proved itself this quarter as a category of one,” CEO Varun Krishna commented in a press release that “we exceeded guidance in a quarter that closed out a transformational year. I’m so proud of how the Rocket, Mr. Cooper, and Redfin teams executed together.”

Indeed, Rocket shared that after closing its Redfin acquisition in July 2025, the latter had realized $140 million in expense synergies in less than half a year.

The homeownership services company also expects adjusted revenue in the first quarter in the range of $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion, again beating Wall Street projections of $2.26 billion.

markets
Hyunsoo Rim

Block soars after announcing 40% workforce cut amid AI push

Block, the payments and fintech firm led by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey, is up almost 20% in premarket trading after announcing plans yesterday to cut 40% of its 10,000-person workforce.

Alongside the layoff announcement, Block reported $6.25 billion in Q4 revenue, slightly ahead of expectations, while gross profit for the quarter grew 24% year on year. The company also raised its full-year guidance for both gross profit and operating income.

In a post on X, Dorsey said the decision wasn’t made because the company is in “trouble,” instead framing the move as a structural shift. Indeed, Block has invested heavily in internal AI tools, including launching its own system called Goose in early 2025. In a letter to shareholders, Dorsey said “a significantly smaller team” using these tools “can do more and do it better.”

Most of the layoffs will occur in Q1 and will be “substantially” completed by the end of Q2, with expected restructuring charges of approximately $450 million to $500 million, according to an SEC filing.

Block is the latest company to tie job cuts to AI in Corporate America. Outplacement firm Challenger estimates roughly 55,000 US layoffs were attributed to the technology in 2025, almost 13x the level two years ago. Dorsey predicted that most companies “will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes” within the next year.

The company had more than tripled its headcount from the end of 2019 through 2022, with its number of employees rising from 3,845 to 12,428. When presented with this tidbit, Dorsey acknowledged on X that “yes we over-hired during covid because i incorrectly built 2 separate company structures.” Last year, Block spent roughly $68 million on an event for employees, which reportedly featured performances from T-Pain and Soulja Boy.

Despite the rally, Block remains more than 75% below its 2021 peak.

Luke Kawa
17h
CoreWeave tumbles on higher than expected capex and plans to keep accelerating its investments

CoreWeave framed this higher capex as a positive, Wall Street and the market don’t seem to agree.

Cloud Based Artificial Intelligence Computing Company CoreWeave Has IPO On Nasdaq Exchange

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.
©2026 Sherwood Media, LLC