Data as of:
LIVE
SMCI
Super Micro Computer, Inc. · Technology - AI Servers & Infrastructure
$39.09
+6.86% this month
VERSUS
COMPARE
DELL
Dell Technologies Inc. · Technology - Enterprise IT
$568.06
+29.83% this month
Comparison scoreboard
DELL LEADS 3/5AI Scorei
SMCI 74.7
DELL ✓83.7
1Y Returni
SMCI -14.91%
DELL ✓+329.99%
Fwd P/Ei
SMCI ✓6.95
DELL 17.51
Target Up.i
SMCI +14.53%
DELL ✓+20.46%
Op. Margini
SMCI ✓13.38%
DELL 8.86%
Metrics last refreshed: 9/20/2026
Quick take
SMCI vs DELL Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
SMCI (Super Micro Computer) and DELL (Dell Technologies) are both major AI server manufacturers benefiting from hyperscaler and enterprise AI infrastructure investment — Supermicro is a pure-play AI server specialist with faster design cycles and liquid cooling leadership, while Dell is a comprehensive enterprise IT company with stronger customer relationships and financial stability. Supermicro has higher AI server revenue growth; Dell has broader business diversification.
SMCI vs DELL is pure-play AI server speed and innovation (Supermicro's engineering culture enabling faster GPU server designs with liquid cooling leadership) versus enterprise IT trust and comprehensive AI solutions (Dell's CIO relationships and full-stack AI infrastructure portfolio from a financially stable enterprise IT leader) — startup-like agility versus enterprise breadth in AI server manufacturing.
Live analysis · updated 9/20/2026
DELL holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. DELL has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+329.99% vs -14.91%), though SMCI has the better forward P/E setup (6.95x vs 17.51x for DELL). SMCI leads on both revenue growth (93.20%) and operating margin (13.38%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for DELL (+20.46%) than for SMCI (+14.53%).
Want a full valuation workup? 46-section report — AI Score, Monte Carlo forecast, bull/bear case, DCF, and more.
Normalized 1Y performance
SMCI
DELL
Recent returns
SMCI
DELL
Analyst price targets & sentiment
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
SMCI
Price target range
analyst mean$42.38
current price$39.09
+14.5% upside to analyst mean
DELL
Price target range
analyst mean$556.13
current price$568.06
+20.5% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
SMCI may suit investors who:
- Want the highest-concentration AI server exposure from the company that has grown fastest with the AI buildout — Supermicro's revenue has grown dramatically as hyperscalers and enterprises deploy GPU clusters
- Value Supermicro's engineering speed in bringing new GPU server designs to market ahead of larger OEM competitors — being first with H100, H200, and Blackwell GPU servers is critical for capturing initial AI infrastructure spending
- Accept Supermicro's accounting/audit risk and thin margins as tradeoffs for the highest-growth AI server pure play in the public markets
DELL may suit investors who:
- Want AI server exposure within a diversified enterprise IT company — Dell's AI server growth is real and substantial, complemented by storage, PC, and services revenue that smooth overall business performance
- Value Dell's enterprise customer relationships and trusted IT vendor status as providing durable access to corporate AI infrastructure spending budgets
- Prefer Dell's stronger governance, financial stability, and established audit relationships versus Supermicro's accounting concerns for AI server manufacturing exposure
Performance & AI score
| Metric | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 74.7 | 83.7 |
| AI ranki | #24 | #7 |
| Latest closei | $39.09 | $568.06 |
| 1M returni | +6.86% | +29.83% |
| 6M returni | +26.96% | +262.38% |
| 1Y returni | -14.91% | +329.99% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $8.51K (-14.9%) started 2025-09-18 | $43K (+330.0%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $107.63K (+976.3%) started 2021-09-20 | $130.52K (+1205.2%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $179.97K (+1699.7%) started 2016-09-19 | $487.62K (+4776.2%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $24.31B | $298.3B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 11.35 | 36.82 |
| Forward P/Ei | 6.95 | 17.51 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 0.77 | 2.21 |
| Analyst targeti | $42.38 | $556.13 |
| Target upsidei | +14.53% | +20.46% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 93.20% | 87.50% |
| Earnings growthi | 434.70% | 282.50% |
| EPS growthi | +434.70% | +282.50% |
| FCF margini | -21.12% | +4.06% |
| Operating margini | 13.38% | 8.86% |
| Profit margini | 5.71% | 6.28% |
| ROIC proxyi | 21.47% | N/A |
| Return on equityi | 21.47% | N/A |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | 0.55% |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 13.44% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.97 | 1.40 |
| Debt/equityi | 63.95 | N/A |
| Current ratioi | 3.87 | 0.95 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.93 | 0.61 |
Correlation
Over the past year, SMCI and DELL have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.51), based on daily returns.
1Y
0.51
-1.0+1.0
5Y
0.40
-1.0+1.0
10Y
0.36
-1.0+1.0
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
SMCI max drawdowni65.01%
DELL max drawdowni32.64%
SMCI max wkly dropi38.27%
DELL max wkly dropi16.33%
5Y risk snapshot
SMCI max drawdowni84.84%
DELL max drawdowni59.59%
SMCI max wkly dropi45.45%
DELL max wkly dropi23.19%
10Y risk snapshot
SMCI max drawdowni84.84%
DELL max drawdowni59.59%
SMCI max wkly dropi45.45%
DELL max wkly dropi23.70%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -14.91% | +329.99% |
| CAGRi | -14.92% | +330.42% | |
| Volatilityi | 92.36% | 75.18% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.25 | 2.25 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.37 | 4.40 | |
| Max drawdowni | 65.01% | 32.64% | |
| Current drawdowni | 33.38% | 3.46% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 40.26% | 11.42% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 43.26% | 14.95% | |
| Max daily dropi | 33.32% | 9.80% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 38.27% | 16.33% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +976.27% | +1102.83% |
| CAGRi | +60.91% | +64.54% | |
| Volatilityi | 89.01% | 53.82% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.93 | 1.11 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.46 | 1.83 | |
| Max drawdowni | 84.84% | 59.59% | |
| Current drawdowni | 67.10% | 3.46% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 36.78% | 20.03% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 46.47% | 24.59% | |
| Max daily dropi | 33.32% | 18.99% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 45.45% | 23.19% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +1699.72% | +4393.88% |
| CAGRi | +33.52% | +46.32% | |
| Volatilityi | 72.13% | 45.39% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.70 | 0.97 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.07 | 1.51 | |
| Max drawdowni | 84.84% | 59.59% | |
| Current drawdowni | 67.10% | 3.46% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 28.64% | 15.36% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 37.24% | 20.86% | |
| Max daily dropi | 41.12% | 21.64% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 45.45% | 23.70% |
Business comparison
| Category | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Super Micro Computer, Inc. | Dell Technologies Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Computer Hardware | Computer Hardware |
| Core business | Super Micro Computer (Supermicro) designs and manufactures high-performance servers and storage solutions — specializing in AI training and inference servers optimized for NVIDIA GPUs (H100, H200, B200), direct liquid cooling systems for high-density GPU clusters, and building block server architectures that allow rapid customization. Supermicro sells primarily to cloud providers, enterprises, and AI researchers. | Dell Technologies is a comprehensive enterprise IT company providing servers (PowerEdge), storage (PowerStore, PowerScale), networking, PCs (consumer and enterprise), cloud software (VMware spun off in 2021), and IT services. Dell's Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) has seen strong AI server demand from enterprise and cloud customers building GPU clusters. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Supermicro's revenue growth (which exploded with AI server demand), GPU server backlog and shipment volume, liquid cooling product adoption, gross margins (thin in servers), and accounting/audit issues that emerged in 2024 creating regulatory and financial reporting risk. | Investors track Dell's ISG revenue (AI server growth driver), PC market cycles (Client Solutions Group), order backlog for AI servers, storage revenue, and the deleveraging of Dell's balance sheet after various financing transactions including the VMware IPO proceeds. |
SMCI strengths
- AI server design speed advantage — Supermicro's engineering culture enables faster new server designs around new NVIDIA GPU generations than larger OEM competitors; when NVIDIA releases a new chip, Supermicro often ships compatible servers weeks to months before Dell or HPE
- Liquid cooling technology leadership — as GPU clusters become denser and hotter, liquid cooling is replacing air cooling; Supermicro's early investment in direct liquid cooling (DLC) technology has created an advantage in the highest-density AI server configurations
- Building block modular design — Supermicro's componentized architecture allows customers to customize server configurations efficiently, appealing to hyperscalers and AI labs that need specific configurations
DELL strengths
- Enterprise customer relationships — Dell's deep relationships with CIOs and IT procurement teams at the world's largest corporations give it a privileged position for enterprise AI server deployments alongside existing Dell IT infrastructure
- Full-stack IT portfolio — Dell can bundle AI servers with storage (Pure Storage competitor), networking (Cisco competitor), and services, creating a complete AI infrastructure solution from a single trusted vendor
- Financial stability and scale — Dell's large revenue base, established supply chain relationships (including with NVIDIA), and financial strength enable large AI server commitments that smaller OEMs cannot guarantee
Risks to watch — SMCI
- Accounting and audit risk — Supermicro delayed filing its 2024 annual report and faced an auditor resignation (Ernst & Young resigned); these governance issues created significant investor concern about financial reporting integrity
- Thin server margins in a competitive market — server manufacturing is inherently low-margin; Supermicro's gross margins are typically 11-15%, leaving limited buffer for production problems or pricing pressure
- Revenue concentration in AI servers tied to NVIDIA GPU availability — when NVIDIA GPU supply is constrained, Supermicro's ability to ship AI servers is limited regardless of demand
Risks to watch — DELL
- PC market cyclicality drags on Dell's overall results — the consumer and commercial PC business has significant revenue cyclicality that offsets the AI server growth story for Dell's overall results
- VMware spinoff reduced software revenue — VMware's spinoff to Broadcom in 2023 removed Dell's highest-margin software business, increasing Dell's dependence on lower-margin hardware
- Competition from HPE and directly from NVIDIA-preferred ODMs (original design manufacturers) in the highest-performance AI server segments where Supermicro has an advantage
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