Billionaire PC magnate Michael Dell is riding the AI ​​gold rush, says the party isn’t over yet even if ‘there will be too many’ data centers eventually

Dell Technologies stock is up 32% in the past year alone thanks to the growing importance of the infrastructure services it provides to clients like OpenAI. While some analysts and technology leaders claimed The AI ​​industry is in a bubbleDell said the boom remains strong due to artificial intelligence companies’ insatiable appetite for computing power.

If customers were buying without a real need, Dell would be concerned, but “we don’t see that at all,” he said. CNBC. “In fact, we see kind of the opposite.”

When it comes to artificial intelligence, Dell said, the company’s customers face a lot of their own demand, confronting the limits of America’s aging power grid.

“Our customers immediately deploy whatever infrastructure they get,” he said. “The limiting factor for many of them seems to be, can they deliver power to the buildings to provide the required energy.”

Dell said the company’s server networking business grew 58% last year. Over the next four years, the company’s annual revenue growth will exceed expectations by 7% to 9%, compared to the 3% to 4% it previously expected. The company said growth in its headline annual earnings per share (EPS) — a measure of how much a company makes on each outstanding share — would be 15% or better, compared to the 8% previously expected. He said Tuesday.

AI stock market boom

Overall, the AI ​​industry is driving a stock market boom that has lifted companies that supply AI infrastructure. Oracle shares jumped about 36% in one day after the company announced a five-year, $300 billion plan. Cloud deal With OpenAI last month. This week, AMD shares rose 24% after it said it would partner with OpenAI on AI data centers. Dell Technologies stock is up 39% year to date.

Sure enough, many market spectators are starting to raise alarms about market froth. On Wednesday, the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee warned that “equity valuations appear stretched.” to caution This is partly due to record concentration in the stock market, where stocks can be exposed if the AI ​​impact is short lived.

However, Dell sees the huge demand for AI and the infrastructure that supports it as a sign that good times are still here, at least for now.

“I’m sure at some point there will be a lot of these things that will be built, but we’re not seeing any signs of that,” Dale said.