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.
SMCI and DELL are closely matched — they split the tracked metrics evenly. DELL has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+256.66% vs -31.05%), though SMCI trades at the lower forward P/E (9.67x vs 19.18x). Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for SMCI (+21.49%) than for DELL (+18.15%).
- →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
- →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
| Metric | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 61.9 | 69.9 |
| AI rank | #129 | #37 |
| Latest close | $30.66 | $409.50 |
| 1M return | +0.33% | +74.06% |
| 6M return | +2.75% | +222.59% |
| 1Y return | -31.05% | +256.66% |
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 | $6.89K (-31.1%) started 2025-06-18 | $36.22K (+262.2%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $89.49K (+794.9%) started 2021-06-18 | $99.39K (+893.9%) started 2021-06-18 |
| 10Y ago | $114.57K (+1045.7%) started 2016-06-20 | $411.48K (+4014.8%) started 2016-08-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | SMCI | DELL |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $18.44B | $265.4B |
| Trailing P/E | 16.14 | 32.58 |
| Forward P/E | 9.67 | 19.18 |
| Price/Sales | 0.55 | 1.98 |
| EV/Revenue | 0.75 | 2.11 |
| Analyst target | $37.25 | $483.83 |
| Target upside | +21.49% | +18.15% |
| 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% | +4.06% |
| 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 | 0.00% | 0.62% |
| 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 | -31.05% | +256.66% |
| CAGR | -31.07% | +256.97% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.03 | 2.18 | |
| Max drawdown | 66.18% | 32.34% | |
| Max daily drop | 33.32% | 9.13% | |
| Max wkly drop | 38.27% | 15.16% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +794.92% | +800.82% |
| CAGR | +55.02% | +55.22% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.89 | 1.03 | |
| Max drawdown | 84.84% | 59.59% | |
| Max daily drop | 33.32% | 18.99% | |
| Max wkly drop | 45.45% | 23.19% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +1045.74% | +3629.33% |
| CAGR | +27.64% | +44.48% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.64 | 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 - AI Servers & Infrastructure | Technology - Enterprise IT |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| 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. |
- →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
- →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
- →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
- →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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