InveDeckEARNINGS · DELL

EARNINGS REVIEW

Large AI orders and stronger cash generation

FY26 Q1 · 2025-05-02Release date 2025-05-29B$ · USD billions

Historical earnings report · Management guidance reflects expectations at the time of the release, not subsequent outcomes. The financial comparison uses the site’s normalized dataset, including comparative figures restated in later filings.

ISG grew 12% to $10.3 billion, with servers and networking up 16% to $6.3 billion and storage up 6% to $4.0 billion. CSG rose 5% to $12.5 billion. AI-optimized server orders were $12.1 billion and backlog reached $14.4 billion.

Revenue
23.378 B$
Operating income
1.165 B$
FCF · company definition
2.228 B$

Assessment · The cash recovery is visible in actual results. The remaining questions are how the larger backlog converts into shipments, earnings and cash, and how much liquidity remains after shareholder distributions.

01 Business drivers

ISG grew 12% to $10.3 billion, with servers and networking up 16% to $6.3 billion and storage up 6% to $4.0 billion. CSG rose 5% to $12.5 billion. AI-optimized server orders were $12.1 billion and backlog reached $14.4 billion.

Evidence · 1 ↗ · 2 ↗

02 Earnings and comparison basis

On the filed comparative basis, revenue was $23.378 billion, operating income $1.165 billion, operating margin 4.98%, and net income $0.965 billion. Non-operating items and tax can separate net earnings from operating profit; the table distinguishes absolute changes from margin-point changes.

Against the previous quarter, the absolute changes were -0.553 B$ in revenue and -0.994 B$ in operating income.

Against the year-earlier quarter, the absolute changes were +1.134 B$ in revenue and +0.200 B$ in operating income.

OCF of $2.796 billion was a company record for a first quarter, while shareholder returns were approximately $2.4 billion. Large AI orders signal shipment opportunities, but procurement, manufacturing and customer readiness affect the timing of revenue and cash conversion.

Evidence · 1 ↗ · 2 ↗ · 3 ↗

03 Cash flow and investment burden

Total quarterly OCF of $2.796 billion less net cash CapEx of $0.568 billion gives common FCF of $2.228 billion. Company FCF was $2.228 billion. Cumulative cash-flow subtraction uses the same fiscal-year start and business perimeter; acquisition consideration is excluded from CapEx.

Dell company FCF measures cash after net capital investment and differs from adjusted FCF excluding DFS financing receivables and operating-lease equipment effects. Consolidated cash flow including financing services is not standalone AI-server cash flow.

Evidence · 1 ↗ · 2 ↗

04 Liquidity and borrowings

Quarter-end liquid assets were $7.700 billion, interest-bearing borrowings $28.781 billion and net cash $-21.081 billion. A negative net-cash balance denotes net debt. Liquid assets include cash, cash equivalents and verified short-term investments; total accounting liabilities of $89.893 billion are a different measure from borrowings.

Evidence · 1 ↗

05 Scope of disclosed RPO

Verified contractual RPO was $49.000 billion. It represents transaction price allocated to unsatisfied performance obligations, not a demand pipeline, cancellable order backlog or ARR. Revenue timing, profit and cash collection require separate assessment, and other backlog measures must not be added to it.

Evidence · 1 ↗

06 Management remarks in the earnings release

Yvonne McGill characterized the results as “All of our core businesses grew as we…”. This brief quotation records management’s assessment in the original release; it does not establish review of conference-call Q&A.

Evidence · 1 ↗

07 CFO assessment

The cash recovery is visible in actual results. The remaining questions are how the larger backlog converts into shipments, earnings and cash, and how much liquidity remains after shareholder distributions.

Evidence · 1 ↗ · 2 ↗

Quarterly results · CY-aligned view

Metric · B$2024 full-year total1Q
FY25 Q1
2024-05-03
2Q
FY25 Q2
2024-08-02
3Q
FY25 Q3
2024-11-01
4Q
FY25 Q4
2025-01-31
2025 total of 1 included quarters1Q
FY26 Q1
2025-05-02
QoQ ΔYoY Δ
Revenue95.56722.24425.02624.36623.93123.37823.378−0.5531.134
Operating income6.2370.9651.3921.7212.1591.1651.165−0.9940.200
Operating margin (%)6.5264.3385.5627.0639.0224.9834.983−4.038 pp0.645 pp
Net income4.5920.9970.8871.1751.5330.9650.965−0.568−0.032
FCF · company definition1.9580.4570.7040.914−0.1172.2282.2282.3451.771
Operating cash flow · total4.5211.0431.3401.5530.5852.7962.7962.2111.753
Net cash CapEx · common2.5630.5860.6360.6390.7020.5680.568−0.134−0.018
Cash CapEx · Chinese company definition—————————
FCF · total calculation1.9580.4570.7040.914−0.1172.2282.2282.3451.771
Net cash · liquid assets less borrowings−20.934−19.650−19.972−19.797−20.934−21.081−21.081−0.147−1.431
Liquid assets · including short-term investments3.6335.8304.5505.2253.6337.7007.7004.0671.870
Borrowings · interest-bearing debt24.56725.48024.52225.02224.56728.78128.7814.2143.301
Cash and cash equivalents3.6335.8304.5505.2253.6337.7007.7004.0671.870
Total liabilities · accounting liabilities81.13382.91385.48484.14181.13389.89389.8938.7606.980

CY denotes the calendar quarter with the greatest overlap with the fiscal period. If the first period has no start date, 89 days before its end is used only for calendar mapping. Financial values are not recalculated into calendar quarters. Incomplete years show totals of included quarters; cash, liabilities, borrowings and net cash use the last period-end balance. QoQ and YoY show absolute changes; margin changes are percentage points. Dashes indicate missing evidence or incomparable periods or definitions. Total liabilities never substitute for borrowings.

Definitions and evidence coverage

A dash means unavailable or undisclosed, not zero. Company-defined FCF may differ from total operating cash flow less common-basis CapEx. Total liabilities are accounting liabilities, not interest-bearing debt.

This report reviews the quarter and comparative figures in official earnings releases and financial filings. Segment descriptions and guidance retain their original announcement-date scope. It does not imply completion of a full conference-call and Q&A review.

Official source documents

  1. Official earnings release ↗
  2. Official financial tables / SEC filing ↗
  3. Official financial tables / SEC filing ↗
  4. Financial filing · 2024-05-03 ↗
  5. Financial filing · 2024-05-03 ↗
  6. Financial filing · 2024-05-03 ↗
  7. Balance sheet · 2024-05-03 ↗
  8. Financial filing · 2024-08-02 ↗
  9. Balance sheet · 2024-08-02 ↗
  10. Financial filing · 2024-11-01 ↗
  11. Financial filing · 2024-11-01 ↗
  12. Balance sheet · 2024-11-01 ↗
  13. Financial filing · 2025-01-31 ↗
  14. Financial filing · 2025-01-31 ↗
  15. Balance sheet · 2025-01-31 ↗