Not a good buy right now for an impatient trader: the broader trend is still bearish (price pressured under key moving averages) and the near-term setup offers limited upside to resistance versus larger downside to support.
Fundamentals are solid (double-digit revenue growth and strong EPS growth), but gross margin compression + cautious hardware-budget commentary keep the tape from supporting an aggressive entry.
Options positioning is mixed (hedging via OI, but call-heavy flow), and implied volatility is elevated into earnings (2/26), suggesting the market expects a catalyst-driven move.
Influential/political trading: no recent congress trading data available.
Technical Analysis
Price: 117.96 (+0.78% regular, +0.90% pre-market), while SPY is down ~1% today (risk-off backdrop).
Trend / Moving Averages: Bearish structure with SMA_200 > SMA_20 > SMA_5 (suggests the larger trend is still down).
Momentum: MACD histogram +0.721 and expanding (bullish momentum improving), but not enough to fully overturn the bearish MA stack yet.
RSI(6): 52.6 (neutral; no strong overbought/oversold edge).
Key levels: Pivot 117.014 (price sitting right on it).
Resistance: R1 120.739, R2 123.04.
Support: S1 113.29, S2 110.989.
Risk/reward near current price: upside to R1 is ~+2.4% vs downside to S1 is ~-4.0%, which is not attractive for a “buy-now” entry.
Options Data
Bearish
Open Interest Put-Call Ratio
Bullish
Option Volume Put-Call Ratio
Sentiment split:
Open Interest Put/Call = 1.5 (more puts outstanding → more hedging / cautious positioning).
Volatility: 30D IV 58.58 vs Historical Vol 37.87; IV Percentile 86.06 (options are priced rich, often seen ahead of events like earnings).
Activity: today’s volume 5,717; reported vs 30D average indicates below-normal participation, suggesting no major “crowd” conviction today despite elevated IV.
Interpretation: market is paying up for protection/event risk (bearish/uncertain), while some traders are still leaning bullish via calls—overall mixed, not a clean green light.
Technical Summary
Sell
6
Buy
9
Positive Catalysts
showed strong growth: revenue +10.83% YoY; net income +31.74% YoY; EPS +39.02% YoY.
Neutral/Negative Catalysts
implies rallies can be sold until structure improves.
Bottom line: growth is strong, but margin compression is the main fundamental overhang for near-term price performance.
Growth
Profitability
Efficiency
Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends
Recent trend: price targets have been trimmed across the group, reflecting caution on hardware budgets/memory costs, even as most firms keep constructive long-term views tied to AI servers.
Bear case (notable): Morgan Stanley Underweight, PT cut to $111 (defensive hardware view; budget slowdown; memory exposure concerns).
Wall Street pros: AI server/hyperscaler demand and multi-year EPS growth narrative.
Wall Street cons: margin risk from memory/commodity inflation and a more cautious enterprise hardware spending environment.
Wall Street analysts forecast DELL stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for DELL is 164.85 USD with a low forecast of 113 USD and a high forecast of 180 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
15 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast DELL stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for DELL is 164.85 USD with a low forecast of 113 USD and a high forecast of 180 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
11 Buy
3 Hold
1 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 115.390
Low
113
Averages
164.85
High
180
Current: 115.390
Low
113
Averages
164.85
High
180
Morgan Stanley
Erik Woodring
Underweight
downgrade
$113 -> $111
AI Analysis
2026-01-20
Reason
Morgan Stanley
Erik Woodring
Price Target
$113 -> $111
AI Analysis
2026-01-20
downgrade
Underweight
Reason
Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring lowered the firm's price target on Dell Technologies to $111 from $113 and keeps an Underweight rating on the shares. The firm's chief investment officer survey indicated the the slowest hardware budget growth in 15 years. Resellers are expecting an "elastic demand response" to input cost inflation, which warrants a more defensive IT hardware position despite secular AI tailwinds, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Morgan Stanley has turned "more defensive," saying its recent survey work "signals the perfect storm of cautionary factors emerging." The firm downgraded its sector view to Cautious from In-Line.
Citi
Asiya Merchant
Buy
downgrade
$175 -> $165
2026-01-20
Reason
Citi
Asiya Merchant
Price Target
$175 -> $165
2026-01-20
downgrade
Buy
Reason
Citi analyst Asiya Merchant lowered the firm's price target on Dell Technologies to $165 from $175 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm adjusted targets in the technology hardware group as part of its 2026 outlook. Citi believes hyperscaler data center spending "remains robust," which is driving demand for power, storage, connectors, and fiber.
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