Dell shares jump 39% after server maker reports fastest sales growth since return to public market in 2018

Dell reported its fastest pace of revenue growth for any period since its return to the public market more than seven years ago, and topped analysts' estimates for sales and profit. The stock climbed as much as 39% in extended trading on Thursday.

Here's how the company did in comparison with LSEG consensus:

Revenue soared nearly 88% year over year for the quarter, which ended on May 1, according to a company statement . Since its IPO in 2018, which came five years after the server maker was taken private , year-over-year growth has never exceeded 39%, a mark that was hit in the January period.

The expansion is being driven by artificial intelligence, with Dell assembling servers containing graphics processing units from the likes of Nvidia . Dell said its AI server revenue increased 757% from a year earlier to $16.1 billion. For the full year, Dell now expects AI revenue of $60 billion, up from a projection of $50 billion in February. That would reflect 144% year-over-year growth.

Dell said it had over 5,000 AI server customers, including neoclouds, sovereign clients and enterprises.

As of Thursday's close, Dell's stock was up more than 150% for the year, compared to the S&P 500's roughly 10% gain.

One big winner in the Dell pop is President Donald Trump , who became a shareholder in the first quarter, according to filings with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics . At a White House event earlier this month, Trump said, "Go out and buy a Dell."

On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced a five-year contract with Dell worth $9.7 billion for Microsoft 365 productivity services. That comes roughly five months after Dell CEO Michael Dell and his wife, Susan Dell, donated $6.25 billion to fund Trump Accounts for 25 million U.S. children.