SMCI vs DELL: Super Micro vs Dell — Which AI Server Stock Is Better?: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Super Micro is a focused, agile AI server specialist with deep NVIDIA integration and fast time-to-market, while Dell is a diversified enterprise infrastructure giant using its scale and relationships to capture AI server demand. SMCI offers pure-play AI infrastructure exposure with higher risk; Dell offers more stable, diversified business with AI server as a meaningful growth driver.
Use this SMCI vs DELL comparison to choose your AI server investment. Super Micro has deeper AI server specialisation and faster product cycles; Dell has broader enterprise relationships, more diversified revenue, and a stronger capital return program.
SMCI and DELL are closely matched — they split the tracked metrics evenly. DELL has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+258.06% vs +2.13%), though SMCI trades at the lower forward P/E (12.85x vs 18.49x). Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for DELL (+22.68%) than for SMCI (-9.64%).
- →Want pure-play AI server infrastructure exposure with close NVIDIA partnership depth
- →Believe SMCI's speed and specialisation will maintain market share in next-generation GPU servers
- →Are comfortable with higher risk including accounting disclosure concerns and thin margins
- →Have a short-to-medium term view on AI infrastructure capex expansion
- →Want AI server exposure within a more diversified and financially transparent enterprise technology company
- →Value Dell's strong capital return program including dividends and buybacks
- →Prefer broader enterprise infrastructure exposure across servers, storage, and PCs
- →Are more risk-averse and prioritise business quality and governance alongside AI tailwinds
| Metric | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 68.6 | 65.2 |
| AI rank | #52 | #76 |
| Latest close | $41.64 | $394.39 |
| 1M return | +20.14% | +65.15% |
| 6M return | +21.65% | +185.88% |
| 1Y return | +2.13% | +258.06% |
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 | $10.21K (+2.1%) started 2025-06-05 | $36.37K (+263.7%) started 2025-06-05 |
| 5Y ago | $112.54K (+1025.4%) started 2021-06-07 | $91.75K (+817.5%) started 2021-06-07 |
| 10Y ago | $157.37K (+1473.7%) started 2016-06-06 | $396.3K (+3863.0%) started 2016-08-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $25.04B | $256.18B |
| Trailing P/E | 21.92 | 31.45 |
| Forward P/E | 12.85 | 18.49 |
| Price/Sales | 0.74 | 1.91 |
| EV/Revenue | 0.98 | 2.06 |
| Analyst target | $37.63 | $483.83 |
| Target upside | -9.64% | +22.68% |
| Metric | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 122.70% | 87.50% |
| Earnings growth | 326.00% | 282.50% |
| EPS growth | +326.00% | +282.50% |
| FCF margin | -22.10% | -0.10% |
| Operating margin | N/A | N/A |
| Profit margin | 3.70% | 6.28% |
| ROIC proxy | 17.88% | N/A |
| Return on equity | 17.88% | N/A |
| Dividend yield | N/A | 0.64% |
| Beta | 1.87 | 1.38 |
| Debt/equity | 120.80 | N/A |
| Current ratio | 2.65 | 0.95 |
| Quick ratio | 1.20 | 0.61 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +2.13% | +258.06% |
| CAGR | +2.14% | +258.38% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.38 | 2.20 | |
| Max drawdown | 66.18% | 32.34% | |
| Max daily drop | 33.32% | 9.13% | |
| Max wkly drop | 33.24% | 15.16% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +1025.41% | +731.56% |
| CAGR | +62.38% | +52.83% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.94 | 1.00 | |
| Max drawdown | 84.84% | 59.59% | |
| Max daily drop | 33.32% | 18.99% | |
| Max wkly drop | 45.45% | 23.19% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +1473.70% | +3491.72% |
| CAGR | +31.75% | +44.12% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.68 | 0.95 | |
| Max drawdown | 84.84% | 59.59% | |
| Max daily drop | 41.12% | 21.64% | |
| Max wkly drop | 45.45% | 23.70% |
| Category | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Super Micro Computer, Inc. | Dell Technologies Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| Core business | Designer and manufacturer of high-performance server and storage systems, with a focus on AI GPU servers incorporating NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel chips. Known for fast time-to-market with new GPU architectures. | Enterprise technology infrastructure company spanning servers (PowerEdge), storage, PCs, and services. Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) is benefiting from AI server demand. Also a significant PC maker via Client Solutions Group. |
| Investor focus | AI server revenue growth, gross margin recovery, filing delay resolution, NVIDIA partnership depth, and market share in the hyperscaler and enterprise AI infrastructure market. | ISG AI server revenue growth, PC refresh cycle, storage recovery, operating margin, and capital return via dividends and buybacks. |
- →Early and deep integration with NVIDIA GPUs enables fast deployment of the latest AI accelerator architectures
- →Direct liquid cooling expertise is increasingly important for high-density GPU server deployments
- →Smaller, faster organisation allows quicker product iteration versus larger OEM competitors
- →Trusted enterprise relationships and go-to-market scale allow Dell to reach customers Super Micro cannot
- →Diversified revenue across servers, storage, PCs, and services reduces concentration risk
- →Strong free cash flow and capital return program including dividends and buybacks
- →Accounting concerns and delayed financial filings damaged credibility and investor confidence
- →Gross margins are thin and under pressure from component costs and competitive pricing
- →Highly concentrated exposure to AI server demand — a slowdown in AI capex would materially impact revenue
- →AI server margins are thin; revenue growth does not translate directly to profit growth
- →PC market remains cyclical and is not a significant growth driver
- →Competing against HPE, Lenovo, and Super Micro in enterprise AI server infrastructure
Want deeper AI forecasts?
This comparison page is public and free forever. Subscribers can unlock saved watchlists, full AI rankings, detailed forecasts, and interactive analysis tools.