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David A. Grogan | CNBC

Dell shares surged 22% on Friday and headed for their best day since the company returned to the public market in 2018. The rally followed a better-than-expected earnings report, driven by a big revenue beat.

The maker of IT hardware and infrastructure technology said sales slid 13% from a year earlier to $22.9 billion, topping the $20.9 billion average analyst estimate according to Refinitiv. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.74 exceeded the $1.14 average analyst estimate.

Dell traded at $68.59 as of mid-day Friday. It’s on pace for its biggest gain and highest close since the company relisted its stock five years ago. Dell was taken private in 2013 by founder Michael Dell and a group of private equity firms.

In addition to its rosy earnings report for the latest quarter, Dell increased its forecast for the year. The company now expects full-year sales of between $89.5 billion and $91.5 billion, representing a 12% year-over-year drop at the middle of the range. Dell previously was calling for a drop of about 15%.

Despite a decline in revenue, Morgan Stanley on Friday named Dell its top IT hardware pick, replacing Apple. The firm wrote in a report that Dell “is emerging as an early Generative AI winner,” referring to the latest developments in artificial intelligence.

Morgan Stanley sees Dell benefiting from booming demand for AI servers as more companies focus their spending on that corner of the hardware market. The analysts recommend buying the stock and lifted the price target to $70.

“DELL is the first company in our coverage to directly benefit from the Gen AI spending cycle,” the analysts wrote, pointing to the Dell’s disclosure of a $2 billion backlog of AI servers.

Morgan Stanley maintained an overweight rating for Apple, but noted risks of increased regulation around the app store.

Prior to Friday, Dell’s biggest one-day gain since 2018 was a 14% increase in March 2020, according to FactSet. Its previous record close was $60.77 in February of this year.

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AI wave will begin to split between open and closed-source models, says Dell CEO Michael Dell

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AMD announces $6 billion buyback; shares climb 6%

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AMD announces  billion buyback; shares climb 6%

Lisa Su, president and CEO of AMD, talks about the AMD EPYC processor during a keynote address at the 2019 CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., January 9, 2019.

Steve Marcus | Reuters

AMD said on Wednesday that its board of directors approved $6 billion in share buybacks. The stock climbed 6%.

The authorization is in addition to $4 billion in existing approved share repurchases, the company said.

“Our expanded share repurchase program reflects the Board’s confidence in AMD’s strategic direction, growth prospects, and ability to consistently generate strong free cash flow,” AMD CEO Lisa Su said in a statement.

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AMD, the most important artificial intelligence chip company aside from Nvidia, reported 96 cents in earnings per share on $7.44 billion in revenue in its fiscal first quarter.

AMD announced a deal potentially worth $10 billion in investment on Tuesday to support an AI company called Humain in Saudi Arabia with chips. Su was in Saudi Arabia this week to announce the deal.

AMD said that it would provide graphics processors for AI as well as central processors needed to build AI servers to Humain, which is also buying Nvidia processors. Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya added $10 to his price target for AMD, bringing it to $130 per share, on the news.

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Chinese tech giant Tencent posts 13% revenue jump as growth at key gaming unit surges

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Chinese tech giant Tencent posts 13% revenue jump as growth at key gaming unit surges

Chinese tech company Tencent is a gaming giant and the parent company of WeChat, the ubiquitous social messaging app in China.

Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Tencent on Wednesday reported an annual rise in its top and bottom line in the first quarter fuelled by accelerated growth in its key gaming business.

While revenue beat expectations, its net profit fell short.

Here’s how Tencent did in the first quarter of 2025 versus LSEG estimates:

  • Revenue: 180.02 billion Chinese yuan ($25 billion), versus 174.63 billion yuan expected
  • Net profit: 47.8 billion yuan, versus 52.2 billion yuan expected

Revenue rose 13% year-on-year, while net profit was up 14%.

This breaking news story is being updated.

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Sony shares rise about 2% in volatile trading following share buyback announcement

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Sony shares rise about 2% in volatile trading following share buyback announcement

A file photo of Hiroki Totoki, Sony Group Corporation executive, delivering a keynote address at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, on January 6, 2025. 

Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Sony Group shares rose about 2% Wednesday in volatile trading after the Japanese conglomerate announced a 250 billion yen ($1.7 billion) share buyback and operating income beat estimates.   

Operating income for the last three months of the financial year came in at 203.6 billion yen, beating mean analyst estimates of 192.2 billion yen, though it was down 11% from the same period last year. 

In the earnings report, the Japanese-based electronics, entertainment and finance company announced a stock buyback of shares worth 250 billion yen. 

Sony also provided details on a partial spinoff of its financial unit. The company plans to distribute slightly more than 80% of the shares of common stock of the spinoff to shareholders of Sony Group through dividends. 

The financial unit will list its financial operation this year and will be classified as a discontinued operation in Sony’s accounting from the current quarter, the company added. 

However, Sony’s outlook for the current financial year ending in March was lackluster.

The company forecasted its operating profit to rise a slight 0.3% to 1.28 trillion yen, after flagging a 100 billion yen hit from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Yet, Sony clarified that the estimated tariff impact did not reflect the trade deal made between the U.S. and China on May 12 and that the actual impact could vary significantly. 

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