Shares of Dell and HP fell sharply on Wednesday following their respective forecasts that cast doubt on a market recovery driven by AI-enabled PCs. Dell's forecast of quarterly revenue below estimates led to a 13% drop in its stock, losing nearly $13 billion in market value. HP's shares fell by 9%, with its market capitalization set to decrease by more than $3 billion.
Both companies have seen weakening demand for traditional PCs in the post-pandemic era, despite some interest in AI-powered computers from corporate and education sectors. Dell's AI server business, however, continued to be a bright spot, with a 58% increase in revenue in its servers and networking unit