Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) on Thursday said that some of its biggest AI customers are signing multi-year server deals without knowing the final price, prioritizing access to computing power over cost as demand continues to overwhelm supply.

According to Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke, Dell has told large enterprises, sovereign customers and cloud providers that future pricing cannot be guaranteed — and many are moving ahead with purchases anyway.

Big Companies Don’t Want To Be Left Waiting

Clarke described an AI infrastructure market where securing capacity has become more important than negotiating price.

"I cannot tell them what the price is gonna be," Clarke said. "But it is arrangements and agreements that we are working with large customers to ensure they have what they need."

Some of those agreements stretch as long as five years.

The dynamic marks a sharp departure from traditional enterprise technology purchasing, where customers typically negotiate pricing before committing to long-term contracts. Dell says AI demand has flipped that equation, with companies more concerned about securing supply than locking in costs.

Dell exited the quarter with a record $51.3 billion AI server backlog after booking $24.4 billion in new AI orders during the quarter.

Today’s Price Isn’t Tomorrow’s Price

Chief Financial Officer David Kennedy said businesses that traditionally avoided financing are now borrowing through Dell's financing arm to speed up deployments, driving double-digit origination growth across every segment.

Meanwhile, Dell itself is struggling to predict costs. Clarke said the company is "repricing" constantly as inflation hits key AI components, including DRAM, NAND flash and CPUs.

How Long Can Customers Keep Paying Up?

While many customers are still moving forward with purchases, Clarke added that some are beginning to delay spending and wait for pricing pressures to ease. "There will be a point where it is enough and they will wait it out," Clarke said.

DRAM, NAND and microprocessors remain Dell’s biggest bottlenecks, according to Clarke, who said “every bit and bite matters” in the race to meet customer demand.

Stock Shining On Strong Earnings

Dell stock rose 35.17% during Friday's premarket, according to Yahoo Finance, after closing 3.84% at $317.05 on Thursday. The company posted first-quarter revenue of $43.84 billion, surpassing analyst expectations of $35.45 billion. Adjusted earnings came in at $4.86 per share, well above Wall Street estimates of $2.94 per share.

Dell's outlook topped Wall Street expectations, as the company guided second-quarter revenue of $44 billion to $45 billion and adjusted earnings of $4.80 per share, compared to the analyst estimates of $34.99 billion and $2.98 per share, respectively.

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