Aslan Research · Hardware & networking
Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL)
Data as of 2026-09-03 · 28 quarters · filed in USD
Dell’s $134.0 billion of trailing-year revenue gives scale to its $97.0 billion backlog, which equals 0.7x one year of revenue. Revenue grew 6% per year while expenses grew 3% per year, and committed obligations declined 7% per year.
Earned, collected early, and merely signed
Reports $31B of debt; has promised $32B
Leases add $745 million to reported debt of $31.2 billion, bringing total committed obligations to $31.9 billion. The 1.0x committed-versus-reported-debt measure shows the two are nearly equal.
What the promised total is made of, latest quarter
Spending, by reported line
When the promises come due
The next five years show a sharp mismatch: $22.9 billion of obligations come due against $4.4 billion of revenue promised for that period. The due-to-promised-revenue measure is 5.2x.
The rates that matter
Expenses as filed vs after cited reconciliation
15 patterns worth a second look
The filings describe customer receivables and financing transferred through SPEs, receivables sold without recourse, and supply-chain finance invoices in accounts payable. They also report substantial VMware-related receivables, settlements, purchases, sales, and financing, plus one customer at 12% of consolidated net revenue. A disclosure change shifts deferred-revenue reporting from a single next-twelve-month percentage to a two-year recognition profile.
circular financing · 1
DFS finances customers while the company records customer lease and financing cash flows and maintains securitization facilities backed by those receivables.
off balance sheet · 2
The filings report customer receivables and financing transferred through SPEs and receivables sold without recourse.
The filings report Supply Chain Finance Program invoices within accounts payable and later separately identify third-party financial institution involvement.
one time dressing · 1
The FY2023 filing presents a $0.9 billion Class V settlement expense net of $106 million of insurance proceeds as a fiscal-year item.
redefinition · 1
Deferred-revenue disclosure changes from a single next-twelve-month percentage to a two-year recognition profile.
regulator challenge · 5
A reply to SEC staff was filed on 2021-04-15; it quotes 0 staff comments.
A reply to SEC staff was filed on 2021-05-13, answering a staff comment letter dated 2021-04-20; it quotes 0 staff comments.
A reply to SEC staff was filed on 2022-09-12, answering a staff comment letter dated 2022-09-01; it quotes 1 staff comment.
+ 2 more
related party exposure · 2
The filings report substantial receivables, tax-agreement settlements, purchases, sales, and financing involving VMware as a related party.
The FY2026 filing reports one customer at 12% of consolidated net revenue, compared with prior filings reporting no customer above 10%.
subsequent event · 2
The FY2021 filing reports a $9.3 billion VMware dividend received and $9.4 billion of core debt repaid after period-end.
The FY2021 filing reports the Boomi sale agreement, while the FY2022 filing reports approximately $4.0 billion of cash consideration received.
value revision · 1
The catalog reports substantive revisions to historical net income for FY2022 and FY2024.