Daniel Mahncke and Shawn O’Malley dive into Dell Technologies, the legacy PC giant that’s quietly become one of the largest suppliers of AI infrastructure in the world. Once seen as a low-growth hardware player, Dell now sits at the heart of the data center buildout — shipping billions of dollars worth of GPU-powered servers to customers like xAI, Meta, and Microsoft. With a growing AI backlog, enterprise trust, and deep global reach, Dell might be one of the most overlooked players in today’s AI cycle.
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN
00:00 – Intro
01:09 - How Dell became a global PC behemoth.
5:27 - Why Dell managed to outcompete IBM.
10:56 - How Dell’s business is structured.
14:30 - Why the PC Market is struggling to grow.
20:36 - What role AI Servers play in Dell’s future.
47:23 - Whether Dell has a moat.
54:09 - How profitable Dell is and how it allocates capital.
01:11:15 - Why hardware is such a tough business.
01:14:11 - Whether Dell is attractively valued at its current levels.
01:14:11 - Whether Shawn & Daniel add DELL to The Intrinsic Value Portfolio.
*Disclaimer: Slight timestamp discrepancies may occur due to podcast platform differences.
BOOKS AND RESOURCES
- Get smarter about valuing businesses in just a few minutes each week through our newsletter, The Intrinsic Value Newsletter.
- Sign Up for The Intrinsic Value Community.
- Norges Bank Interviews with Michael Dell.
- Dell Presentation on the AI PC Revolution.
- Jensen Huang, Michael Dell Interview on Nvidia and Dell Partnership
- 3rd Party Report on Dell’s Moat.
- Explore our previous Intrinsic Value breakdowns: Uber, Nike, Reddit, Nintendo, Airbnb, AutoZone, Alphabet, Ulta, John Deere, and Madison Square Garden Sports.
- Check out the books mentioned in the podcast here.
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