Dell shares surged after the technology company raised its full-year forecast and reported first-quarter revenue growth of 88 per cent, underscoring continued strength in artificial intelligence infrastructure spending.
BNN Bloomberg spoke with Jon Corpina, senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners, about Dell’s earnings beat, Costco’s latest results, and the broader market rally that has pushed major U.S. indexes to record highs despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.
Key Takeaways
- Dell delivered a significant top- and bottom-line earnings beat, with first-quarter revenue rising 88 per cent year over year as demand for AI servers and related infrastructure remained strong.
- Government contracts and broader enthusiasm around artificial intelligence continue to support growth across the technology sector, according to Corpina.
- Costco exceeded revenue expectations, benefiting from consumers seeking lower-cost shopping options amid persistent inflation and spending pressures.
- Costco’s membership growth of four per cent disappointed some investors, suggesting consumers have not yet shifted spending patterns enough to materially accelerate membership gains.
- Major U.S. indexes extended their rally as investors focused on earnings and economic fundamentals, while largely looking past geopolitical headlines.
Read the full transcript below:
ROGER: Well, shares of Dell are soaring premarket after the tech hardware company raised its full-year outlook and said first-quarter sales climbed 88 per cent on demand for artificial intelligence products. Let’s get more now from Jon Corpina, senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners. Jon, thanks very much for joining us.
JONATHAN: Good morning. Happy Friday.
ROGER: Indeed. I’ll take it this week. It’s been one of those weeks. Dell is going to enjoy this Friday for sure. Looking back, what are the numbers they posted that stand out the most for you?
JONATHAN: Yeah, I mean, just look at the year-over-year growth in revenue. Eighty-eight per cent. Pretty incredible numbers there. The theme that we’re getting out of the Dell report is quite similar to all the other reports that we’ve gotten: beating on the top line and bottom line, with a positive outlook in the tech sector moving forward.
You couple that with the AI headline, you couple that with the government contracts, and we have the president a few months ago saying, “Go out and buy a Dell.” He’s pretty much orchestrating publicly what his views and thoughts are when it comes to an individual company like that.
So we’re clearly seeing that all play out now in front of us. But I think the theme that we’re hearing from Dell, again, is the same one that we’ve heard from the tech sector throughout earnings season. The outlook is rosy in that area for now. Anything touching AI is going to have a positive impact on the stock, and the demand for AI servers and memory space is going to continue.
ROGER: This beat, though, was huge. Why did it seem to catch a lot of analysts off guard? What was it that they didn’t see?
JONATHAN: Yeah, listen, I think Dell has kind of flown below the radar for quite some time, right? It was a public company, went private, came public again, and in that gap in time, there have been some other names that have really risen above and been more headline news.
But I don’t know. You walk around the trading floor here and everyone’s got Dell computers. I’m sure many businesses and corporations out there still use Dell computers. But it hasn’t gotten the publicity that some of the other companies have gotten.
Now you’ve got the government spending behind it and the contracts that are being awarded. I don’t know why analysts missed this one so much. I think the bar was set low, and the bar should have been set higher.
That’s another theme that we see all along here. When we get these beats versus what analysts have expected, the analysts have not really been in line with where the numbers have been coming out. That adds a positive impact to the stock price. But I’d question the analysts on that. How were they so far off, not just on this one, but on some of the others?
ROGER: And judging by its outlook, I think they’ll be paying closer attention because it looks like it’s going to be another gangbuster year for them.
JONATHAN: Yeah, exactly. They’re going to have to really reevaluate their numbers and take into consideration not just the individual company of Dell, but the whole entire sector. It kind of all rises together. I think the analysts are going to have to really justify their jobs at this point.
ROGER: All right, let’s talk about Costco. Also reporting, they had an increase in net sales for the period and beat Wall Street revenue expectations, but they’re still off in the premarket right now.
JONATHAN: Yeah, listen, obviously a totally different sector and a different set of headwinds when we look at earnings season and talk about the high-flyers in tech.
Costco has done well in this time period where Americans are looking for cost savings. We continue to talk about inflation and discretionary spending. Consumers are going to start shifting and looking more toward these lower-cost providers, and Costco is one that can certainly provide that.
But there are going to be a lot of headwinds there. If we’re going to continue to tighten our belts, if we’re going to continue to have supply chain issues and interest rate conversations, it’s clearly going to have an impact on consumer spending.
Interestingly enough, Costco’s gasoline sales were up significantly over a similar period of time, showing that consumers are very concerned about prices at the pump and are being selective as to where they go and what those price impacts are.
Costco can offer lower prices not only in clothes and sneakers, but also in gas, and we’re seeing consumers gravitate toward that, especially in the gasoline area.
ROGER: Now, with Costco, one of the concerns for some analysts was membership growth slowing.
JONATHAN: Yes. So, four per cent growth in membership. I think analysts and the company were looking for more coming out of that.
Even though it is positive, I don’t think that four per cent is going to really spark investors to jump into that stock at this point. We’re going to have to wait and see whether we continue to see higher prices and whether consumers really shift their spending over to some of these lower-cost providers. That would increase membership, but we’re not seeing that translation just yet.
ROGER: All right, quickly before we go, big picture. Everybody’s on a run. The Nasdaq, the S&P, all of them on six-day streaks looking to extend today. They might. And this would be the ninth up week in a row. Can this continue?
JONATHAN: I don’t want to look into your crystal ball, but you can’t fight this tape. You cannot get in the way of it.
A deal is on, a deal is off. The strait is open, the strait is closed. It doesn’t matter at this point. I think investors are getting tired of all that rhetoric.
They’re going back to the fundamentals. They’re looking at the economic data, they’re looking at earnings season reports and outlooks, and if you isolate that information, things continue to look good.
Now it’s just a question of whether geopolitical risks and exposure result in one of those major headlines that changes overall sentiment. I think it will at some point, but as we’re talking right now, with the headlines we got last night and this morning, it doesn’t seem like anything is going to derail this market.
We’ve got the U.S. saying one thing, we’ve got Iran saying something completely different. The market does not care at this point.
ROGER: All right, we’ve got to wrap it up there, Jon. Thanks, as always, for joining us. Have a great weekend.
JONATHAN: Thank you. You too, sir.
ROGER: Jon Corpina, senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners.
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This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the May 29, 2026 interview with Jonathan Corpina are published with the assistance of AI. Original research, interview questions and added context was created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. An editor also reviewed this material before it was published to ensure its accuracy and adherence with BNN Bloomberg editorial policies and standards.
