With this, Dell could add more than $80 billion to its market value.

The company reported first-quarter revenue of $43.8 billion for its 2027 fiscal year, far ahead of analyst expectations of about $35 billion.

Earnings also came in stronger than expected, with adjusted earnings per share reaching $4.86 compared with forecasts of roughly $2.94. Net income climbed 256% year-on-year to $3.44 billion.

The strongest growth came from Dell’s Infrastructure Solutions Group, the division responsible for servers and data-centre systems. Revenue in that business jumped 181% to $29 billion as companies continued spending heavily on AI infrastructure.

Dell noted that AI server sales alone reached $16.1 billion during the quarter, up 757% from a year earlier.

The company also booked $24.4 billion in new AI server orders, pushing its backlog to $51.3 billion. That means Dell still has tens of billions of dollars’ worth of systems waiting to be delivered over the coming quarters.

Investors focused heavily on the growing backlog because it gives Dell unusual visibility into future demand at a time when many technology companies still find it difficult to predict how long the AI spending wave will last.

Following the results, Dell raised its full-year revenue forecast to between $165 billion and $169 billion, up from earlier guidance of $138 billion to $142 billion.

The company now expects AI server revenue to hit roughly $60 billion this year, compared with its previous estimate of $50 billion.

Adjusted earnings per share guidance also increased to $17.90 from $12.90.

Dell’s recent growth has been tied to Nvidia, whose graphics processors power most of the company’s AI systems. The results came only days after Nvidia itself reported record data-centre revenue of $75.2 billion, up 92% from a year earlier.

Together, the numbers from both companies point to aggressive spending on AI infrastructure by major technology firms and cloud providers.

Dell has benefited from orders linked to companies including Alphabet, Amazon and CoreWeave, as well as large AI data-centre projects in Europe.

The company has also expanded its partnership with Nvidia through Project Helix, an initiative designed to help businesses build and deploy AI systems more quickly.

The latest earnings added to signs that demand for enterprise AI infrastructure remains strong across the industry. Lenovo recently reported strong AI server growth, while Super Micro Computer continues expanding manufacturing for GPU-based servers.

Technology companies are expected to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on AI data centres this year as competition around AI services intensifies.

Before the recent shares surge, Dell spent years being seen mainly as a PC and storage company. Now, investors view it as one of the major suppliers benefiting from the global vision to build AI infrastructure.

The post Dell Shares Surge 40% as AI Server Boom Drives Record $43.8bn Quarter appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The company expects operating income of €630 million for Q2, below analyst estimates of €684 million. It also forecast 299 million premium subscribers, falling short of the 302 million expected in the market.

Revenue guidance of €4.8 billion remains broadly in line with forecasts, while monthly active users are projected at 778 million, slightly above expectations.

Investors reacted quickly. Shares dropped about 6% after the outlook was released, as investors focused on slowing growth in paid subscriptions, particularly in Europe and North America, where recent price increases appear to be limiting further expansion.

In contrast, the first quarter showed stronger financial performance. Spotify reported revenue of €4.53 billion, up 8% year on year and in line with expectations. Operating income reached a record €715 million, supported by lower payroll-related costs. Gross margin rose to 33%, one of its highest levels to date.

User growth also held firm in Q1. Monthly active users climbed to 761 million, beating forecasts. Premium subscribers rose to 293 million, up 9% year on year, although slightly below market estimates.

Leadership is still under co-chief executives Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström following the transition earlier in the year, when Daniel Ek moved into the role of executive chairman.

Spotify is enhancing its artificial intelligence features to support engagement and retention. Tools such as AI DJ, AI Playlist, and Prompted Playlist have expanded across music and podcasts, while newer recommendation features aim to deepen personalisation.

Competition is intense, with Apple Music and Amazon Music both expanding similar AI-driven discovery tools, while streaming platforms more broadly are relying on recommendation systems to sustain user engagement.

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Net profit attributable to shareholders dropped to $546 million for the three months ended December 31. That figure was still above market expectations, with analysts surveyed by LSEG forecasting an average of $451.29 million.

When one-off items and non-cash charges were excluded, adjusted net profit rose 36% to $589 million, pointing to stronger underlying performance despite pressure on margins.

Revenue for the quarter climbed 18% year-on-year to $22.2 billion, with all of Lenovo’s business groups recording double-digit growth. The company said this was its highest quarterly revenue to date.

Profit margin improved to 2.7%, although restructuring costs continued to weigh on reported earnings.

Growth in artificial intelligence-related products and services was a key driver. Lenovo said AI-related revenue surged 72% from a year earlier and now accounts for 32% of total revenue. This includes AI devices, infrastructure and services.

The company’s Intelligent Devices Group, which houses its personal computer business, posted revenue of $15.8 billion, up 14% year-on-year. Lenovo’s global PC market share rose to a record 24.9% during the quarter.

Lenovo also disclosed that its Infrastructure Solutions Group took $285 million in restructuring charges. The restructuring plan is expected to deliver annual cost savings of $200 million over the next three years.

The company said it continues to push its hybrid AI strategy, including the rollout of its “Lenovo Qira” super agent and deeper collaboration with Nvidia, as it seeks to drive long-term growth across hardware and AI-led services.

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His comments came after a decline in global software stocks following the release of an updated chatbot by Anthropic. 

Investors reacted to the release by selling shares in companies linked to data services, outsourcing and enterprise software, particularly in Asia.

Speaking at an artificial intelligence conference in San Francisco organised by Cisco, Huang said the idea that software tools are becoming less important is ‘illogical’.

“There’s this notion that the tool in the software industry is in decline, and will be replaced by AI … It is the most illogical thing in the world, and time will prove itself,” he said.

Huang said advanced systems rely on existing software rather than replacing it. He compared the process to how people and machines use tools that already exist instead of building new ones from scratch.

“If you were a human or robot, artificial, general robotics, would you use tools or reinvent tools? The answer, obviously, is to use tools … That’s why the latest breakthroughs in AI are about tool use, because the tools are designed to be explicit.”

Markets continued to fall during the week. In India, shares of IT exporters dropped sharply, with the sector index losing 6.3%. Infosys was among the worst hit, falling 7.3%.

In China, the CSI Software Services Index fell 3%. Shares of Kingdee International Software Group dropped more than 13% in Hong Kong. In Japan, Recruit Holdings fell 9%, while Nomura Research declined 8%.

Huang has made similar comments in recent months, describing intelligent systems as infrastructure rather than replacements for software. At an industry event in Houston earlier this year, he said such systems would be built into existing platforms and tools.

Nvidia is continuing to expand its investments in large-scale computing and industrial applications. The company is also in talks over a major investment in OpenAI and is increasing capacity to support growing demand for computing power.

The recent market reaction emphasises concerns about how new systems could affect data services and outsourcing. Huang said those systems still depend on software to operate, integrate and scale.

For now, the selloff has not changed Nvidia’s position. The company believes that software is indispensable to how the technology is used.

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Apple’s surge came after its stock reached an all-time high of $269.20 before settling around $268.60, briefly pushing its market cap beyond $4 trillion. 

The company’s growth has been commendable, hitting $1 trillion in 2018, $2 trillion in 2020, and $3 trillion in 2022. 

Its latest increase was driven largely by strong sales of the iPhone 17 range, which analysts say is outselling previous models, particularly in China and India. 

The firm is also expected to report solid fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, with notable growth anticipated in services revenue, such as App Store, iCloud, and Apple Music, and wearables, including the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Vision Pro.

Microsoft, which had briefly slipped below the mark earlier this year, rebounded strongly following its renewed agreement with OpenAI. The deal has deepened the integration of OpenAI’s GPT models across Microsoft’s Azure and Copilot tools. 

According to the company, its 27% stake in OpenAI is now valued at approximately $135 billion, highlighting the scale of investor trust in the AI sector. 

Azure continues to be a central driver of Microsoft’s earnings, with enterprise demand for AI infrastructure and its Microsoft 365 Copilot suite pushing growth to new levels. The company will release its quarterly report on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Nvidia continues to lead the trillion-dollar race. The chipmaker was the first to reach the $4 trillion milestone in July 2025 and is now nearing $5 trillion in valuation. 

Its performance has been driven by global demand for its H100 and B200 GPUs, key components in training large-scale AI models. Nvidia’s place in the AI hardware market has made it the fastest-growing tech stock of the year.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is not far behind, trading at a market capitalisation of around $3.25 trillion. If the current growth in AI and cloud services continues, it could soon join Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and others in the $4 trillion valuation club.

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The Japanese tech conglomerate posted a ¥421.8 billion ($2.87 billion) net profit for Q1 2025, marking its second consecutive profitable quarter and a complete turnaround from the ¥174 billion loss in the same period last year. 

This resurgence, led by a $4.8 billion rise in Vision Fund asset value, comes as SoftBank steps up its investment in AI with massive bets across sectors and continents.

Much of this is pinned to SoftBank’s portfolio moves, currently leading a $40 billion investment round for OpenAI, with ¥22.5 billion of that coming from its own balance sheet. 

It’s also behind the $500 billion Stargate infrastructure initiative in the United States, an AI-focused data centre project involving Oracle, OpenAI, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX.

But while the vision is commendable, execution is proving to be more complicated.

The Stargate project, despite its headline-grabbing scale, has yet to break ground. CFO Yoshimitsu Goto conceded that the initiative is “bogging down” due to friction among partners and unresolved site selection issues. 

Discussions are now underway to scale down the scope, with a more modest data centre in Ohio being considered for launch before the year ends.

In the meantime, SoftBank has strengthened its positioning in AI hardware. The firm has recently upped its stake in Nvidia to over $3 billion, benefitting from the chipmaker’s 46% rally in Q2. 

The increased exposure to high-performing public tech firms such as Coupang, Grab, Symbotic, and Swiggy has also helped lift the valuation of Vision Fund assets.

SoftBank’s share price ended Friday at 13,865 yen, up 10.39% after hitting a peak of ¥14,205 in early trading. That rise made it the single largest contributor to gains on Japan’s Topix index, which crossed the 3,000-point milestone for the first time ever and closed at 3,024.

For investors, this sudden rally has brought rare relief. For over a year, SoftBank stock has traded at a stubborn 50% discount to the value of its underlying assets. Now, its loan-to-value ratio has dropped to 17% from 18% in March, signalling an improvement in financial stability.

Paul Golding, an analyst at Macquarie, remarked, “The results were evidence of SoftBank’s quality diversified portfolio, strong underlying fundamentals, thematic/secular tailwinds for its equity holdings, and the resilience of its balance sheet.”

Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, said momentum played a role in Friday’s share spike. “Active investors scooped up SoftBank Group shares to beat the Topix’s gain. When the main indexes rise, they need to buy heavyweights that are rising. SoftBank’s strong earnings and the Topix’s gains came at the same time.”

Yet even with the positive numbers, questions remain. SoftBank’s recent history of erratic investment outcomes and failed tech bets, most notably WeWork, still looms large. Whether this renewed AI strategy can avoid past pitfalls is something only time and execution will reveal.

The post SoftBank Shares Surge to Record High on AI-Fuelled Turnaround appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

With a 2.4% increase in its share price on Wednesday, the chipmaker’s stock hit $164, strengthening its place at the top of the global tech hierarchy, above Apple and Microsoft.

Not without challenges, the California-based firm, which was founded in 1993, surged past a $2 trillion valuation earlier this year in February, then blew past $3 trillion in June. 

Now, in under seven months, Nvidia has doubled its worth, a feat unmatched in stock market history. And it did all of this amid geopolitical friction, export bans, and a volatile tech environment.

Despite being locked out of the $50 billion Chinese chip market due to tightening U.S. export controls, Nvidia’s performance has barely flinched. In fact, CEO Jensen Huang was apt on how this affects them: “The $50 billion China market is effectively closed to U.S. industry,” he said in May, adding that losing China would be a “tremendous loss.”

But even with an $8 billion sales gap from blocked shipments of its H20 chips to China, Nvidia’s machine has not stalled. In the first quarter of FY2026 alone, the company posted $44.1 billion in revenue, a 69% jump from the same period last year. It’s now guiding for $45 billion in Q2. Some analysts are projecting as much as $200 billion in full-year revenue, with expectations rising to $250 billion by FY2027.

So, what’s driving this engine? Nvidia has built a near-monopoly in the data centre GPU market, with a 90% share. It supplies the processing muscle behind OpenAI’s GPT-4, Google’s Gemini, xAI’s Grok, and enterprise AI workloads across Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla. 

Despite murmurs earlier this year noting OpenAI might explore alternatives, the firm publicly reaffirmed its reliance on Nvidia’s chips, silencing any talk of defection.

From Europe to the U.S., policy changes are tilting in Nvidia’s favour. CEO Huang has hinted at big expansion plans for Europe, where AI infrastructure uptake still lags. Back in the U.S., legislative tailwinds are pushing forward.

The newly passed “Big Beautiful Bill” is expected to increase semiconductor tax credits, strengthening Nvidia’s already-tight supply chains.

Even Nvidia’s market cap now tells a global story: it’s worth more than the entire London Stock Exchange and overshadows the combined value of all public companies in Canada and Mexico.

While some might see the company’s meteoric rise as a bubble waiting to pop, Wall Street seems to disagree. Nvidia’s stock has surged 74% since April and risen more than fifteenfold over five years.

And unlike the dot-com era’s inflated valuations, Nvidia’s growth is backed by tangible demand, from governments, corporations, and developers looking to harness artificial intelligence.

While other tech giants are trying to diversify or catch up, Nvidia has entrenched itself as the foundation of AI infrastructure worldwide. 

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Per Reuters, company’s market capitalisation climbed to $3.86 trillion, putting it ahead of Microsoft’s $3.69 trillion valuation and making it the new front-runner in the space.

Nvidia’s surge comes on the back of its fiscal 2025 results, which showed an astonishing 114% year-on-year revenue jump to $130.5 billion. Its net income grew 145% to $72.9 billion. 

Most of that growth is concentrated in its data centre division, which now contributes over 80% of its total revenue, driven largely by hyperscalers like Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta who are aggressively expanding AI workloads.

Microsoft may not be far behind, with its valuation close on Nvidia’s heels. It is still doing great thanks to its investments in OpenAI, enterprise Copilot tools, and its AI-powered Azure cloud services. 

But for now, Nvidia sits at the top, powered by massive infrastructure deals and real-world deployment of its H100 and upcoming Blackwell GPUs, which are supporting the most complex AI systems across the globe.

Again, Meta’s market cap rose 14% to $1.86 trillion, Broadcom followed with a 13.9% increase to $1.3 trillion and Amazon also gained 7%, climbing to $2.33 trillion. All three benefited from strong investor confidence in their AI strategies and cloud infrastructure plays.

Meanwhile, Tesla was the outlier, its valuation slipped by 8.3% to $1.02 trillion. The drop came after a high-profile clash between CEO Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Musk’s objection to Trump’s spending bill and the President’s response, threats to cut federal subsidies for Tesla and SpaceX, resulted in a 14% one-day drop in Tesla shares, wiping out $150 billion in value. The episode triggered investor jitters and regulatory speculation that has yet to settle.

Apple, though still among the top three with a $3.1 trillion market cap, has seen its momentum cool. Its December 2024 peak of $3.92 trillion is still unmatched. Slowing iPhone sales and delayed integration of advanced AI technologies have held back its valuation while rivals capitalise on faster innovation cycles.

Meanwhile, analysts are preparing for a new benchmark. “We believe both Nvidia and Microsoft will hit the $4 trillion market cap club this summer and then over the next 18 months the focus will be on the $5 trillion club … as this tech bull market is still early being led by the AI Revolution,” said Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities.

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Mark Zuckerberg was the biggest winner. Meta’s CEO saw his net worth jump by $16 billion, reaching $220.9 billion. This places him as the third-richest person alive. 

The reason was that Meta shares surged after markets digested news of easing global trade pressures. His 13% stake in the company continues to pay off as confidence grows in Meta’s move toward the metaverse and artificial intelligence.

Jeff Bezos came next. The Amazon founder added $14.2 billion to his fortune, which now sits at $223.6 billion. Even though he stepped down as CEO in 2021, he still owns just under 10% of Amazon. 

The company’s shares jumped 8%, driven by hopes that reduced trade friction will cut down import costs, good news for Amazon’s sellers who source heavily from China.

Elon Musk wasn’t left behind. Tesla’s stock rose, and with it, Musk’s net worth increased by $11.3 billion. That puts him at $406.9 billion, maintaining his top spot as the richest man in the world. 

Investors were not only bullish on Tesla, but also on xAI, his artificial intelligence firm valued at $50 billion. Musk holds 42% of SpaceX and about 12% of Tesla, although much of his Tesla stock is pledged as collateral.

Oracle Co-founder Larry Ellison rounded out the top four, gaining $8.2 billion. He now holds $196.1 billion in wealth, putting him fourth globally. His fortune is closely tied to Oracle’s growth trajectory, with Ellison owning about 40% of the company.

Oracle’s share price rose off the back of growing expectations around AI-driven enterprise software demand and large-scale acquisitions like Cerner.

This sudden market rally wasn’t isolated. The entire “Magnificent 7”—Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, Tesla, and Nvidia—gained $837.5 billion in market value in just one day, making it the largest single-day jump for the group since early April.

Tech investors took the tariff pause between the U.S. and China as a sign of temporary stability. It doesn’t mean the trade issue is over, but it offered a window of relief.

Supply chain disruptions have affected chipmakers and consumer tech brands alike. This move led to immediate confidence, particularly in the semiconductor sector.

Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, and Broadcom all rose by roughly 5–6%. Marvell led the chipmakers, jumping 8%. Apple also rose 6%, despite warning it may still face $900 million in added costs this quarter due to previously announced tariffs.

Chinese tech stocks listed in New York—Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com—saw their own bump. European chipmakers like ASML and Infineon followed suit.

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Meta’s stock closed at $531.62, a steep drop that wiped out 8.85% of Zuckerberg’s net worth in just 24 hours. His fortune now stands at $184.1 billion, pushing him down to third place in the global wealth rankings.

The sell-off wasn’t just about Meta. Markets worldwide reacted sharply to newly announced U.S. tariffs, with tech stocks bearing the brunt of investor panic. 

The White House introduced sweeping levies, including a 10% baseline tariff on all imports and targeted hikes of up to 25% on foreign-made cars. Wall Street took an immediate nosedive.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 5.7%, its most turbulent session since the early pandemic days. The S&P 500 shed 4.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3.7%, as investors ditched stocks for safer assets like U.S. Treasury bonds.

Meta’s timing couldn’t have been worse. The company had been riding high on strong earnings, boasting $8.02 earnings per share and a 21% revenue increase year-over-year. Investors were betting big on its artificial intelligence (AI) push, with Meta AI and other initiatives showing promising traction.

But Thursday’s plunge shattered that rate, pulling the stock below its 200-day moving average. Technical analysts are now watching $530 as a key level—if the stock fails to hold, further declines to $505 or even $480 could be on the horizon.

Meta wasn’t the only tech giant feeling the heat. The world’s 500 wealthiest people collectively lost $208 billion on Thursday. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, saw $15.9 billion wiped off his fortune, while Elon Musk took an $11 billion hit.

For Mark Zuckerberg, the latest loss shows just how combustive the billionaire rankings can be. His fortune had increased earlier this year as Meta’s stock reached $740.89, driven by positiveness around its AI ventures and digital advertising boom. But as the market shifts, even tech’s biggest names are not immune.

Despite the sell-off, Meta still commands an audience of 3.3 billion daily active users across Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. Its AI-powered tools are gaining traction, and Threads recently crossed 320 million monthly users.

Investors are now looking ahead to April 23, when Meta will report its first-quarter results. Analysts expect earnings per share between $5.19 and $5.33, with projected revenue reaching $41.8 billion.

Zuckerberg’s long-term commitment to giving away 99% of his Meta stake stays unchanged, but in the short term, all eyes are on whether the company can reassure investors and stabilise its stock.

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