Dell sells $113B —
and keeps 20¢ of
each dollar as
gross profit.
AI servers are high-volume but low-margin. Cash flow is strong; debt is real.
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✦ The bottom line
Dell generated a record $11 billion of operating cash. But it keeps only ~20¢ of gross profit per revenue dollar — AI servers are thin-margin — and it carries about $32 billion of debt.
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✦ Teach me
Cents kept per dollar of sales
Of every $1 of revenue, the cents left after the cost of the parts and assembly (before overhead). Software companies keep 60-80¢. Hardware assemblers like Dell keep far less — they're buying expensive chips and adding a slimmer markup.
Wall Street calls this
Gross margin
A *20%* gross margin is why Dell's revenue can soar while profit grows more slowly — and why the AI boom helps the top line more than the bottom.
Hardware economics · gross margin
20
%
Dell keeps about 20¢ of gross profit per revenue dollar — and AI servers are even thinner than its other products. High volume, modest markup.
Source · 8-K · Item 2.02 — Statements of Income (gross margin ÷ revenue) · FY2026 · Filed Feb 26, 2026
Thin margins on a small business would be a problem. On a $113 billion business, they still add up to real money. The truest test is cash: how much actually lands in the bank after running everything? For Dell, even at 20% margins, the answer was a record.
The payoff of scale · operating cash flow
$11
B
A record $11B+ of operating cash for the year. Thin margins on enormous volume still produce a torrent of cash.
One more thing separates Dell from cash-rich peers like Apple: debt. Dell came back to the public markets carrying borrowings from its leveraged history, and it also runs a financing arm that lends customers money to buy its gear. Add it up and the balance sheet looks heavier than a casual glance suggests.
The weight · total debt
$32
B
About $32B of total debt — more than its cash. A large chunk funds Dell's customer-financing arm, but it's still a real obligation, unlike its net-cash peers.
Source · 10-K · Notes to Financial Statements — Debt · FY2026 · Filed Mar 16, 2026
●
Mixed
Record $11B cash flow — but $32B of debt temper the picture.