DELL vs NTAP: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?
Last updated November 2026
Short answer
DELL is the larger of the two ($256.21B market cap): the incumbent the market prices for continued execution (13.32x forward earnings, beta 1.44). NTAP is the smaller challenger ($37.08B), actually pricier on forward earnings (16.91x): more room to run, but more to prove. The real question is which set of drivers you believe, and whether owning one (or both) leaves you over-concentrated.
DELL vs NTAP: the tie-breaker metrics
Same yardstick, side by side (as of November 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.
| Metric | DELL | NTAP | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $256.21B | $37.08B | Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove. |
| Forward P/E | 13.32 | 16.91 | Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up. |
| Trailing P/E | 23.43 | 26.62 | Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price. |
| Beta | 1.44 | 1.51 | Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through. |
| Price vs 52-week range | 60% of range | 65% of range | Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why. |
Reading it: DELL is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.
Before you buy: how DELL and NTAP affect your concentration
The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. DELL and NTAP share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.
This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined DELL and NTAP exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
What does Dell Technologies (DELL) do?
Dell Technologies sells computing hardware to enterprises and consumers. The business has two main segments. Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) sells servers (including AI-optimized PowerEdge servers), storage (PowerStore, PowerMax), and data center networking; ISG has become a major AI infrastructure beneficiary because Dell is one of the largest assemblers of NVIDIA GPU-based AI servers for hyperscaler, neocloud and enterprise customers. Client Solutions Group (CSG) sells laptops, desktops, monitors, and peripherals to consumer and commercial markets.
What does NetApp, Inc. (NTAP) do?
NetApp, founded in 1992 and headquartered in San Jose, sells the systems and software enterprises use to store, protect and move their data. The core asset is ONTAP, a storage operating system that has been developed for three decades and now runs on NetApp's own all-flash arrays (the performance-oriented A-series, the capacity-oriented C-series, and the newer disaggregated AFX line), on commodity hardware, and, unusually, as a native first-party service inside the three largest public clouds. Azure NetApp Files, Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP and Google Cloud NetApp Volumes are sold by the hyperscalers themselves, which means NetApp collects revenue whether a customer's data sits in its own rack or in someone else's. Reporting splits into two segments: Hybrid Cloud, which is the on-premises systems, support and Keystone storage-as-a-service business and generated ~$6.24 billion in fiscal 2026, and Public Cloud, which covers the cloud services and generated ~$688 million. A large installed base of support contracts sits underneath both. The fiscal year ends in late April, so fiscal 2026 closed on April 24, 2026, and the first quarter of fiscal 2027 closed on July 31, 2026.
DELL vs NTAP: how do they differ?
Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.
- DELL drivers: AI server assembly as the headline growth driver; Storage modernization.
- NTAP drivers: AI workloads pulling storage along with them; The all-flash replacement cycle.
Which fits which kind of investor
A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: AI server margins are structurally thinner than other Dell business, so headline revenue growth doesn't translate to proportional earnings growth. For NTAP, the dominant near-term risk is input cost: NAND and DRAM contract prices have risen sharply through 2026, and because storage vendors buy memory well ahead of shipping product, NetApp guided fiscal 2027 non-GAAP gross margin down to ~68.5% to ~69.5% from ~71.3% in fiscal 2026.
DELL or NTAP: which should you pick?
Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick DELL if you believe its drivers more; NTAP if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the DELL and NTAP guides.
DELL vs NTAP: the full fundamentals
DELL. Dell's valuation has rerated with its earnings: the forward P/E of about 15x is similar to early 2026, but it now applies to estimates that have roughly tripled, and the market cap has gone from about $95 billion to about $292 billion. The multiple compresses if AI server margins disappoint, if memory-driven pricing fades, or if PC end markets weaken. The next quarterly report is expected around November 27, 2026, with consensus EPS of about $6.56 on ~$49.2 billion of revenue.
NTAP. At ~$207 and a market cap of ~$40.7 billion, NetApp trades at ~29 times trailing GAAP EPS of ~$7.09 but only ~19 times forward estimates, because analysts now expect fiscal 2027 EPS near ~$10.01 on revenue near ~$8.18 billion, well above the ~$7.33 billion to ~$7.58 billion revenue range management first guided. That gap between trailing and forward multiples is the whole debate: it holds only if the AI-driven acceleration persists while gross margin stays near ~70% despite memory costs. The ~1.0% dividend yield is a supplement to the buyback rather than the reason to own the stock, and the next report, due December 1, 2026, carries a consensus of ~$2.60 EPS on ~$2.1 billion of revenue.
Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): DELL shows revenue (ttm) ~$151 billion (quarter ended July 2026 ~$47.0B, up ~58% YoY), net income (ttm) ~$11.4 billion, eps Latest quarter adjusted $7.04 vs $4.92 estimate; trailing ~$17.20; FY2027 guidance ~$25.50 adjusted, margins (ttm) Gross ~20%, operating ~12%, net ~7.5%; NTAP shows revenue (ttm to july 2026) ~$7.39B; FY2026 was ~$6.93B (+5%), latest quarter revenue (q1 fy2027, july 2026) ~$2.02B (+~30% YoY), eps (latest quarter vs estimate) ~$2.58 vs ~$2.12 consensus, net income / eps (ttm) ~$1.42B / ~$7.09 GAAP.
The bottom line: DELL vs NTAP
DELL and NTAP are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined DELL and NTAP exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Wondering how DELL or NTAP fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in Dell Technologies with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how DELL fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the difference between DELL and NTAP?
+
Dell Technologies sells computing hardware to enterprises and consumers. NetApp, founded in 1992 and headquartered in San Jose, sells the systems and software enterprises use to store, protect and move their data. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.
Is DELL or NTAP the better stock?
+
Neither is universally better. DELL is the larger incumbent; NTAP is the smaller challenger and looks pricier on forward earnings. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.
Which is cheaper, DELL or NTAP?
+
On forward P/E (as of November 2026), DELL trades at 13.32x and NTAP at 16.91x, so DELL is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.
Should you own both DELL and NTAP?
+
Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.
What are the risks of DELL vs NTAP?
+
DELL: AI server margins are structurally thinner than other Dell business, so headline revenue growth doesn't translate to proportional earnings growth. Barclays, in downgrading Dell to equal weight in October 2026 with a $574 target, argued that much of the recent revenue growth reflects higher memory prices passed through to customers rather than enterprise AI adoption, and that infrastructure revenue could weaken if memory prices stabilize or fall. Demand depends on AI buyers continuing to fund large data center buildouts, and rising interest rates and doubts about AI customers' revenues make debt-financed projects harder: Dell fell about 19% in the month to October 16, 2026 alongside HPE and Supermicro. The stock is far more volatile than in early 2026, with a 52-week range of roughly $110 to $596. PC market cyclicality and competition from Apple and Lenovo remain, and Dell carries about $35 billion of debt. NTAP: The dominant near-term risk is input cost: NAND and DRAM contract prices have risen sharply through 2026, and because storage vendors buy memory well ahead of shipping product, NetApp guided fiscal 2027 non-GAAP gross margin down to ~68.5% to ~69.5% from ~71.3% in fiscal 2026. Management said it expected the July 2026 quarter to be the margin trough with recovery as price increases work through the system, but that depends on customers accepting higher prices, and NetApp has deliberately taken a more measured pricing stance than some rivals to protect gross profit dollars and relationships rather than fully pass costs through. Competition is structural rather than episodic: Dell and HPE bundle storage into much larger infrastructure relationships, Pure Storage competes hard on flash-native architecture and subscription pricing, and AI-specialist filesystem vendors are attacking exactly the high-performance tier NetApp is targeting with AFX. Demand itself is lumpy, since revenue depends on large enterprise deals and public-sector budgets that can slip a quarter for reasons unrelated to the product, and analysts expect growth to slow from ~27% in the October 2026 quarter to ~12% in the January 2027 quarter. The rally also cuts the other way: the shares are up ~95% in 2026, trade near ~29 times trailing earnings, and the mean analyst target of ~$212 sits only a few percent above the ~$207 close, so the valuation already embeds a good deal of the AI storage thesis. When Barclays downgraded Dell and HPE in mid-October 2026, NTAP fell with the group, a reminder that it trades as part of an AI hardware basket. Shareholders' equity is thin after years of buybacks (price to book is ~27), which leaves reported book value an unhelpful anchor if sentiment turns.
Related comparisons
Browse all stock comparisons.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell DELL or NTAP; figures are approximate and dated (as of November 2026). Verify current data before investing.