Dell raises guidance by $25 billion as shortages widen

Dell is not new to parts shortages, but the scope has changed. The company had already contended with constraints for memory, storage and CPUs. Now, on the Sept. 1 earnings call, COO Jeffrey Clarke described shortfalls reaching rack-level cooling, networking and power components — the parts that turn chips into a working AI system. The demand that keeps outrunning supply is AI computing, and Clarke's own framing was blunt: "it's not enough."

Dell's response has been to reallocate. Earlier in the year, after seeing signs the PC market would soften in the second half, the company began redirecting inputs from PC manufacturing into AI infrastructure. At the same time, customers are behaving differently: large, sophisticated buyers are ordering further in advance and sharing demand forecasts through collaborative planning tools, which Clarke said moves them to the front of the line — a "new phenomenon" in this constrained environment.

Those two moves show up in the numbers. Dell raised its fiscal 2027 revenue guidance by $25 billion, bringing the full-year forecast to $192 billion, per CFO David Kenney. The outcome now hinges on whether supply can keep pace: Dell says it is "doing everything we can to get more supply," and Clarke calls that a very difficult task in today's environment. For procurement teams, the practical question may be how much visibility into future demand is needed to secure delivery at all.