DELL vs NTAP: How Dell Technologies and NetApp, Inc. Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 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.

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.

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 and enterprise customers. Client Solutions Group (CSG) sells laptops, desktops, monitors, and peripherals to consumer and commercial markets.

Full DELL guide

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, visible as ~$4.85 billion of deferred revenue. The fiscal year ends in late April, so fiscal 2026 closed on April 24, 2026 and the numbers below are the most recent full-year figures as of August 2026.

Full NTAP guide

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.

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; the 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.

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. Dell trades at a modest P/E reflecting the low-margin hardware business model. The premium versus pure hardware peers comes from AI server exposure; the multiple compresses if AI server margins disappoint or if PC end markets weaken.

NTAP. At a market cap of ~$36.5 billion, NetApp trades at roughly 22 times fiscal 2026 non-GAAP EPS of ~$8.13, near 29 times GAAP EPS of ~$6.35, and about 20 times the ~$8.85 midpoint of fiscal 2027 guidance, with free cash flow of ~$1.87 billion putting the enterprise value near 19 times cash generation. The guidance itself carries an important asymmetry: revenue is guided up roughly 8% at the midpoint while non-GAAP gross margin is guided down to ~68.5% to ~69.5% from ~71.3%, so earnings growth in fiscal 2027 leans on volume and operating leverage rather than on unit economics. The quarterly dividend of ~$0.52 per share works out to roughly ~1.1% on the recent price, which is a supplement to the buyback rather than the reason to own the stock.

Headline figures (approximate, early 2026): DELL shows revenue (ttm) ~$100 billion, operating margin ~7% (thin overall; AI servers thinner), net income (ttm) ~$5 billion, eps (ttm) ~$7.00; NTAP shows revenue (fy2026, ended april 2026) ~$6.93B (+5% YoY, a company record), q4 fy2026 revenue ~$1.95B (+12% YoY, an acceleration), eps (fy2026) ~$8.13 non-GAAP (+12%), ~$6.35 GAAP, non-gaap operating margin (fy2026) ~30.2% (+190 bps YoY).

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.