Aslan Research · Hardware & networking
Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL)
Data as of 2026-08-21 · 28 quarters · filed in USD
Backlog stands at $97.0 billion, or 0.7x one year of revenue, giving Dell a sizable but smaller forward order base than its latest annual sales. Revenue grew 7% per year while expenses grew 8% per year, a gap that points to faster cost growth over the period shown.
Earned, collected early, and merely signed
Reports $31B of debt; has promised $32B
Committed obligations total $31.9 billion against $31.2 billion of reported debt. The difference is $745 million of leases, so committed money is 1.0x reported debt.
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: $23.0 billion due against $3.5 billion of revenue promised for that period. That is 6.5x as much due as promised revenue.
The rates that matter
Expenses as filed vs after cited reconciliation
10 patterns worth a second look
The filings describe DFS financing certain VMware end-users and recording related financing fees in product net revenue. They also report supply-chain-finance invoices payable through a third-party financial institution outside ordinary supplier terms. Other filing changes include a broader FY2026 purchase-obligation schedule, a changed deferred-revenue horizon presentation, related-party activity with VMware, a post-period Secureworks sale, and revisions to earlier-period income-statement and balance-sheet amounts.
circular financing · 1
The filings state that DFS financed certain VMware end-users and recorded associated financing fees in product net revenue.
off balance sheet · 1
The filings describe supply-chain-finance invoices payable through a third-party financial institution outside ordinary supplier-payable terms.
one time dressing · 1
The FY2023 filing separately reports sizable government-assistance benefits within revenue and cost of revenue.
redefinition · 2
The FY2026 filing expands the purchase-obligation presentation from a few future fiscal buckets to a much larger multi-year schedule.
The FY2026 filing changes the deferred-revenue horizon presentation from a 67%/16% split to a 78%/11% split.
related party exposure · 1
Filings report substantial ongoing balances, purchases, sales, and tax settlements with VMware, a related party.
subsequent event · 1
The FY2025 filing reports the Secureworks sale after the FY2025 period, recontextualizing the period's continuing ownership and investment disclosures.
value revision · 3
The FY2022 filing reports revised FY2021 net income relative to the earlier FY2021 filing.
The FY2022 filing reports substantially revised FY2020 income-statement amounts relative to the FY2020 filing.
The FY2022 filing reports substantially revised FY2021 income-statement and balance-sheet amounts relative to the FY2021 filing.