⚠ Inventory Doubled in Six MonthsModerate threat

Dell Technologies (DELL) — threat to the moat

Dell's inventory doubled in six months to $21 billion, the part of a hardware balance sheet that loses value fastest.

1. ReportedInventories were $6,716 million at the end of fiscal 2025, $10,437 million at the end of fiscal 2026 and $21,290 million at 31 July 2026, roughly doubling in six months.
   Dell Technologies Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 30 January 2026) - Item 1 business: history, customers, employees, channels and management. — FY2026 · publ. March 2026 · source ↗
2. ReportedInventories were $6,716 million at the end of fiscal 2025, $10,437 million at the end of fiscal 2026 and $21,290 million at 31 July 2026, roughly doubling in six months.
   Dell Technologies second-quarter fiscal 2027 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - segment results, AI orders and backlog, and full-year guidance - consolidated income statement. — Q2 FY2027 · publ. 1 September 2026 · source ↗
3. Moat Explorer calcInventories were $6,716 million at the end of fiscal 2025, $10,437 million at the end of fiscal 2026 and $21,290 million at 31 July 2026, roughly doubling in six months.
   Moat Explorer calculation from Dell Technologies' reported figures ($ millions unless stated; fiscal years labelled by the year they end). Margins FY2026: gross margin 22,707 / 113,538 = 20.0% (FY2024 21,069 / 88,425 = 23.8%; FY2025 21,250 / 95,567 = 22.2%); operating margin 8,149 / 113,538 = 7.2%. Products gross margin 90,405 - 78,057 = 12,348, 12,348 / 90,405 = 13.7%; services gross margin 23,133 - 12,774 = 10,359, 10,359 / 23,133 = 44.8%; services share of revenue 23,133 / 113,538 = 20.4%; services share of gross margin 10,359 / 22,707 = 45.6%. Growth FY2026: revenue 113,538 / 95,567 - 1 = 18.8%; services 23,133 / 24,147 - 1 = -4.2%; ISG revenue 60,826 / 43,593 - 1 = 39.5%; ISG operating income 7,111 / 5,579 - 1 = 27.5%; United States 63,140 / 51,014 - 1 = 23.8%; foreign 50,398 / 44,553 - 1 = 13.1%. Revenue FY2024 to FY2026 113,538 / 88,425 - 1 = 28.4%; employees 97,000 / 120,000 - 1 = -19.2%; revenue per employee 88,425 / 120,000 = 0.74 and 113,538 / 97,000 = 1.17. AI servers: 24,683 / 1,873 = 13.2 times; share of revenue 24,683 / 113,538 = 21.7% (FY2024 1,873 / 88,425 = 2.1%); share of ISG 24,683 / 60,826 = 40.6%; Q2 FY2027 share of ISG 16,401 / 31,782 = 51.6%; first half 16,132 + 16,401 = 32,533, 32,533 / 74,000 = 44.0%; second half needed 74,000 - 32,533 = 41,467, about 20,700 a quarter; FY2027 guidance share 74.0 / 192.0 = 38.5%; FY2027 guidance 74.0 / 24.683 = 3.0 times. Orders: Q4 FY2026 AI orders about 64 - 30 = 34 billion; Q2 FY2027 orders to revenue 60.9 / 16.4 = 3.7. ISG share of segment operating income: FY2024 4,286 / 7,998 = 53.6%; FY2026 7,111 / 9,944 = 71.5%. Q2 FY2027 CSG share 1,142 / (4,781 + 1,142) = 19.3%. ISG operating margin: FY2022 3,736 / 34,366 = 10.9%; FY2023 5,045 / 38,356 = 13.2%. CSG operating margin: FY2024 3,712 / 48,916 = 7.6%; Q1 FY2026 653 / 12,509 = 5.2%; Q2 FY2026 803 / 12,503 = 6.4%; Q4 FY2026 629 / 13,494 = 4.7%; Q1 FY2027 1,170 / 14,609 = 8.0%; Q2 FY2027 1,142 / 15,034 = 7.6%. CSG operating income FY2022 to FY2026 2,833 / 4,365 - 1 = -35.1%. Q2 FY2027 client: CSG revenue 15,034 / 12,503 - 1 = 20.2%; CSG operating income 1,142 / 803 - 1 = 42.2%. Traditional servers and networking first half FY2027 8,543 + 10,531 = 19,074. Servers and networking growth FY2025 27,136 / 17,624 - 1 = 54.0%, FY2026 44,195 / 27,136 - 1 = 62.9%; share of revenue 44,195 / 113,538 = 38.9%; Q2 FY2027 16,401 + 10,531 = 26,932, 26,932 / 46,971 = 57.3%. Line changes FY2022 to FY2026: servers and networking 44,195 / 17,901 - 1 = 146.9%; storage 16,631 / 16,465 - 1 = 1.0%; commercial 44,062 / 45,576 - 1 = -3.3%; consumer 6,922 / 15,888 - 1 = -56.4%. Storage 16,631 / 17,958 - 1 = -7.4%; storage share of revenue 16,631 / 113,538 = 14.6%; storage share of ISG 16,631 / 60,826 = 27.3%. Consumer share of revenue 15,888 / 101,197 = 15.7% (FY2022) and 6,922 / 113,538 = 6.1% (FY2026); consumer against FY2015 6,922 / 10,880 - 1 = -36.4%. Commercial share of revenue 44,062 / 113,538 = 38.8%. Servers and networking plus commercial 44,195 + 44,062 = 88,257, 88,257 / 113,538 = 77.7%. Corporate and other FY2022 101,197 - 17,901 - 16,465 - 45,576 - 15,888 = 5,367; corporate and other change 1,728 / 5,624 - 1 = -69.3%. Geography: United States share 43,986 / 88,425 = 49.7% (FY2024), 51,014 / 95,567 = 53.4% (FY2025), 63,140 / 113,538 = 55.6% (FY2026). Largest customer: 12% x 113,538 = 13,625; 13,625 / 60,826 = 22.4% of ISG; all other customers 113,538 - 13,625 = 99,913. Remaining performance obligations due within twelve months: 132 x 77% = 101.6 billion. Server share: Dell lead over Supermicro 16.5 - 7.6 = 8.9 points in Q1 2026 against 10 - 9.5 = 0.5 points in 2025; Supermicro plus HPE 7.6 + 3.0 = 10.6%. Inventories 21,290 / 10,437 = 2.04 times; payables 49,723 - 33,630 = 16,093; inventory increase 21,290 - 10,437 = 10,853; payables less inventories 49,723 - 21,290 = 28,433; payables less inventories and receivables 49,723 - 21,290 - 22,918 = 5,515. DFS-related debt 20,660 / 14,646 - 1 = 41.1%. Debt: FY2020 7,737 + 44,319 = 52,056; net core debt 13,983 - 11,569 = 2,414; net debt 31,503 - 11,528 = 19,975 (January 2026) and 34,466 - 11,569 = 22,897 (July 2026); interest paid 1,354 / 8,149 = 16.6%. Goodwill and intangibles 19,547 + 4,533 = 24,080, 24,080 / 101,286 = 23.8%; other assets 101,286 - 24,080 = 77,206. Capital returns: buybacks first half FY2027 5.4 billion / 20 million shares = about $270 a share; dividends paid 1,459 / 5,936 = 24.6% of net income; annual dividend 0.37 x 4 = 1.48, 0.445 x 4 = 1.78, 0.525 x 4 = 2.10, 0.63 x 4 = 2.52, 2.52 / 1.48 - 1 = 70%; Q2 FY2027 buybacks and dividends 3,796 + 405 = 4,201. Guidance: FY2027 revenue 192.0 / 113.538 - 1 = 69%; non-AI revenue 192.0 - 74.0 = 118.0 against 113,538 - 24,683 = 88,855, 118.0 / 88.855 - 1 = 32.8%; implied second half 192.0 - 90.8 = 101.2 billion; implied fourth quarter 101.2 - 49.0 = 52.2 billion; implied second-half GAAP EPS 24.37 - 11.58 = 12.79; guidance raised 192 - 140 = 52 billion. Voting at 1 September 2026: Class A 276,744,341 / 635,812,750 = 43.5% of shares; votes 276.7 million x 10 = 2,767 million, Class B 43.6 million x 10 = 436 million, Class C 315.4 million; total 3,519 million; Class A 2,767 / 3,519 = 78.6%, Class B 436 / 3,519 = 12.4%, Class C 315 / 3,519 = 9.0%. Valuation: trailing revenue 113,538 - 53,154 + 90,813 = 151,197; trailing net income 5,936 - 2,129 + 7,571 = 11,378; P/E 357.89 / 11.378 = 31.5; P/S 357.89 / 151.2 = 2.37; year-end market value over the next fiscal year: 37.89 / 4.616 = 8.2, 54.95 / 3.250 = 16.9, 42.90 / 5.563 = 7.7, 28.80 / 2.442 = 11.8, 54.43 / 3.388 = 16.1, 82.18 / 4.592 = 17.9, 86.61 / 5.936 = 14.6. Q2 FY2027 cash from operations 2,225 / 4,133 = 54%. Further: ISG operating income 7,111 / 4,286 - 1 = 65.9%; Q2 FY2026 AI orders about 30 - 12.1 - 12.3 = 5.6 billion; operating income 8,149 / 2,622 = 3.1 times (FY2020 to FY2026); NVIDIA Data Center revenue against Dell ISG revenue 89.0 / 31.782 = 2.8 times; buybacks 2,080 + 2,588 + 6,014 = 10,682; ISG revenue 60,826 / 14,714 = 4.1 times (FY2015 to FY2026); IEIT, Lenovo and HPE 2025 server shares 4.1 + 4.0 + 3.1 = 11.2%; Commercial share of client revenue 45,576 / 61,464 = 74.2% (FY2022), 39,814 / 48,916 = 81.4% (FY2024); consumer share of revenue 9,102 / 88,425 = 10.3% (FY2024); Dell server growth against the market 244.1 / 80.4 = 3.0 times. Services share of Q2 FY2027 revenue 5,859 / 46,971 = 12.5%; commercial share of client revenue 44,062 / 50,984 = 86.4%; client revenue growth FY2026 50,984 / 48,393 - 1 = 5.4%; consumer Q1 FY2027 1,589 / 1,463 - 1 = 8.6%; CSG first half FY2027 2,312 / 29,643 = 7.8%; annual dividend cost 0.63 x 4 x 635.8 million = about 1,602; remaining performance obligations 132 / 38 = 3.5 times; EPS guidance 24.37 / 11.52 = 2.1 times; AI backlog against second-half AI revenue needed 95 / 41.5 = 2.3 times; commercial first half FY2027 13,020 + 13,192 = 26,212, 26,212 / 44,062 = 59.5%; storage share of ISG 16,261 / 33,885 = 48.0% (FY2024) and 4,850 / 31,782 = 15.3% (Q2 FY2027); consumer share of Q2 FY2027 revenue 1,842 / 46,971 = 3.9%; AI orders less AI revenue in Q2 FY2027 60.9 - 16.4 = 44.5 billion; consumer share of client revenue 10,880 / 39,634 = 27.5% (FY2015) and 6,922 / 50,984 = 13.6% (FY2026) - segment margins and growth rates. — FY2015-FY2027 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
   Method: Arithmetic on figures reported in Dell Technologies' Forms 10-K and 10-Q, results releases, IDC data and market data; operands shown in the source line.
4. ReportedThe build is not reckless on its face: accounts payable rose from $33,630 million to $49,723 million over the same six months, so suppliers are funding much of it.
   Dell Technologies second-quarter fiscal 2027 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - segment results, AI orders and backlog, and full-year guidance - balance sheet, cash flow and capital returns. — Q2 FY2027 · publ. 1 September 2026 · source ↗
5. ReportedDell generated $2,225 million of cash from operations in the second quarter of fiscal 2027, against net income of $4,133 million.
   Dell Technologies second-quarter fiscal 2027 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - segment results, AI orders and backlog, and full-year guidance - balance sheet, cash flow and capital returns. — Q2 FY2027 · publ. 1 September 2026 · source ↗
6. ReportedDell's own filing warns that its "offering portfolios may quickly become outdated" Stock bought for one generation of AI servers is worth less when the next ships.
   Dell Technologies Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 30 January 2026) - Item 1A risk factors, supply, ownership and control. — FY2026 · publ. March 2026 · source ↗
7. ReportedThe number to watch is inventory against quarterly revenue: $21,290 million against $46,971 million today; inventory still rising after revenue growth slows would be the warning.
   Dell Technologies second-quarter fiscal 2027 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - segment results, AI orders and backlog, and full-year guidance - balance sheet, cash flow and capital returns. — Q2 FY2027 · publ. 1 September 2026 · source ↗

• Dell Technologies Form 10-K, FY2026