Wall Street sets Dell stock price target for next 12 months

Analyst Optimism Amid Geopolitical and Market Headwinds

Geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East and soaring bond yields weighed on global markets this past week, as investors closely assessed the valuations of artificial intelligence stocks amid concerns about the sustainability of high spending on AI infrastructure. Despite these challenges, top Wall Street analysts remain bullish on several stocks, pointing to long-run growth potential and exposure to lucrative AI-related business lines.

Dell Technologies: A Storage-Fueled Rally

Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) has been a standout performer, with its stock spiking more than 230% so far in 2026, driven by strong demand for AI servers. Year-to-date, the shares have surged more than 237%, pushing the company's market capitalization to approximately $302.8 billion. One Wall Street analyst sees further upside: Amit Daryanani of Evercore ISI reiterated a 'Buy' rating on Dell on August 19, raising the firm's 12-month price target to $550 from $500—a 10% increment—according to a note sent to clients.

Daryanani's 'Outperform' rating is based on Dell's storage portfolio remaining underappreciated at current share levels. The analyst argues that Dell is well positioned to benefit from revamped enterprise spending on storage, driven by the AI boom. He believes the storage business can grow revenue by double digits and contribute $2.00 to earnings per share (EPS).

"We think DELL's storage business is becoming increasingly strategic as AI infrastructure deployments move beyond GPU procurement and toward full stack + AI-ready architectures," Daryanani said.

With the stock hovering around $431.07 on Wednesday, Daryanani's target suggests a potential 27.59% upside. This target is more ambitious than the consensus: a survey of 20 Wall Street analysts by TipRanks set an average price target of $496.50, implying a more moderate 15.18% uptick. Still, the analyst community's expectations are record-buy, reflecting Dell's strong fundamentals.

Dell's fiscal 2027 first-quarter revenue came in at $43.84 billion, up 87.5% year-over-year, beating analysts' expectations of $35.74 billion. The company also issued earnings per share of $4.86, against a consensus of just $2.93. Most importantly, closed the quarter with a record $51.3 billion in AI-server backlog, confirming that demand is outpacing supply.

Storage: The Overlooked Growth Driver

While Dell's AI server business grabs headlines, Daryanani emphasizes that the storage division has been overlooked by investors. Currently, storage is estimated to account for only 10% of fiscal 2027 revenue, but its operating margins are in the low-to mid-20% range, significantly higher than the mid-single-digit margins of AI servers and the mid-teens of traditional servers. The analyst sees this division as strategically important for three reasons: Dell's broad storage portfolio, its higher margins, and the industry shift toward proprietary software-defined storage and AI-focused platforms.

The storage business could become a key driver of earnings growth. If revenue can grow at double-digit rates, it could contribute $2.00 per share in earnings, a meaningful addition given the margins involved. This underappreciated segment could be the key to unlocking further gains, particularly as enterprises move beyond just GPU procurement toward holistic AI-ready architectures.

Other AI Plays: CrowdStrike and SanDisk

While Dell anchors this narrative, other AI-linked stocks also attract bullish Wall Street commentary. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) is scheduled to announce fiscal second-quarter results on August 26. Ahead of that, Truist analyst Junaid Siddiqui reiterated a buy rating and raised his price target to $245 from $187.50. The analyst cites continued strength in Falcon Flex adoption and large deal activity, along with momentum in emerging products. "We continue to view CrowdStrike as one of the primary beneficiaries of platform consolidation," Siddiqui said, though he expects investors to remain fixated on competitive dynamics and whether current growth levels represent a new baseline or acceleration.

Memory and storage products maker SanDisk is also benefiting from AI-driven demand. J.P. Morgan analyst Harlan Sur resumed coverage with a buy rating and a price target of $2,250. Sur highlights SanDisk's eight long-term agreements, with total contract value of $94 billion and gross margin about 80% at floor pricing. The NAND market total addressable market is expected to surge from about $70 billion in 2025 to over $300 billion in 2026 and $500 billion in 2027, with data centers as the largest driver of growth. Additionally, the BiCS10 technology is sampling ahead of schedule, offering 65% more bits per wafer than the previous generation, and Sur expects High Bandwidth Flash to become a differentiated memory platform for AI inference. SanDisk's management's commitment to returning 100% of excess cash flow to shareholders should amplify EPS growth on a per-share basis.

Perspectives

Evercore ISI (Amit Daryanani): Bullish on Dell, with a $550 price target, driven by underappreciated storage business and AI tailwinds.

TipRanks Consensus: 20 analysts have an average target of $496.50, implying more moderate upside.

J.P. Morgan (Harlan Sur): Positive on SanDisk, citing AI-driven NAND demand and strong contract structures.

Truist (Junaid Siddiqui): Optimistic on CrowdStrike ahead of earnings, with a raised target.