Super Micro advances 13%, Dell gains 5-10%, HPE rises 3-5.6% on blowout AI server guidance

Super Micro Computer dropped preliminary fiscal Q4 2026 results that looked mediocre on the surface, with revenue landing near the low end of its $11-$12.5B guidance range. But buried in the release was the kind of number that makes institutional investors start clicking buy buttons: gross margins revised upward to 15-17%, nearly double the previous forecast of 8.2-8.4%.

The market’s reaction was swift and sector-wide. SMCI shares jumped roughly 13%, hitting an intraday gain as high as 25%. Dell Technologies climbed between 5-10%, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise rose 3-5.6%.

The numbers behind the rally

Super Micro attributed its margin expansion to a favorable mix of customers and products. Then there’s the backlog. Super Micro now has more than $60B in unfilled orders. The company’s trailing twelve-month revenue has been in the $25-30B range, meaning it’s sitting on roughly two years’ worth of work.

Ripple effects across the AI hardware stack

Dell has been building its own AI server franchise aggressively. Earlier in 2026, the company projected annual AI server revenue in the $50-60B range. Dell’s Q1 fiscal 2027 AI server revenue came in between $8.95B and $16.1B, reflecting hundreds of percent year-over-year growth.

HPE has similarly reported backlog expansion in AI-related server products. Its 3-5.6% stock gain was the most modest of the group.

Legal clouds haven’t cleared

In March 2026, the Department of Justice issued an indictment related to allegations that Super Micro illegally exported AI servers equipped with NVIDIA technologies to China. SMCI shares rallied despite the overhang of that DOJ indictment.

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