Dell Rises 5% Despite Fresh Silver Lake Share Sale Filings; Super Micro Climbs 3%, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Ticks Up

Silver Lake just filed to sell more Dell shares into a session where the stock is surging, and the server complex is moving like the sponsor notices do not matter at all. Here is why buyers are ignoring the overhang…

Published September 16, 2026, 10:31am ET · 4 min read

Market Movers desk. Editor: David Moadel.

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A long, futuristic-looking server room or data center with two rows of dark server racks extending into the distance on either side. Each server rack has numerous small, glowing green and blue lights indicating activity. A large, illuminated blue graphic of a microchip with the letters 'AI' at its center is projected onto the ceiling and reflected on the floor. The room is bathed in a cool blue light, emphasizing a high-tech and powerful environment.
Rows of server racks symbolize the immense infrastructure required for artificial intelligence. The burgeoning AI industry demands unprecedented levels of power, posing challenges for the energy grid. © Shutterstock

Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL | DELL Price Prediction) shares are rising on the same morning its longtime sponsor filed to sell more of the stock, and the whole server complex is moving with it. The iShares U.S. Technology ETF (NYSEARCA:IYW) is up 0.84% to $252.17 while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) is up 0.23% to $759, so technology is outrunning the broad market this morning and the server names are leading technology.

Shares of Dell are up 5% to $568.52 in morning trading, extending a year-to-date advance of 356% that has already captured much of the AI server story. The Silver Lake disclosure is landing into that context, not into a fresh name still working out its rerating.

Also higher are Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) stock, up 3% to $36.87, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) stock, up 2% to $57.25. Both are trading with Dell rather than against it, and that grouping argues the morning belongs to the AI server trade rather than to Dell specifically.

DELL price target

Silver Lake Files to Sell More Dell

Four Silver Lake-affiliated entities filed Form 144 notices covering a combined 80,010 Dell Class C shares this week, according to disclosures the funds submitted to regulators. The shares were converted from Class B stock into Class C the day before the proposed sales, a routine step that moves the older super-voting class into the ordinary trading line.

A Form 144 is a notice of intent rather than a confirmation that any shares changed hands, so the count marks proposed activity by Silver Lake rather than a completed disposal. It still adds to what’s become a visible pattern of selling at Dell, and the notices land into a session where the broader tape is friendly.

The new filings sit on top of a longer sell-down. Silver Lake-affiliated entities and related holders have sold roughly 1.86 million Dell shares since early June, and the pace has picked up in September.

Silver Lake has held Dell since it partnered with founder Michael Dell to take the company private more than a decade ago, and it remained a major shareholder after Dell returned to public markets. Sponsor selling of this shape typically reads as a position being unwound on its own schedule rather than a verdict on Dell’s server franchise. The response this morning suggests buyers of Dell see it the same way, at least at these levels.

Server Trade Carries the Group

Super Micro and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are advancing alongside Dell, and that grouping is the clearest tell for what today’s buying is really about. When three server names lift together while the broad tape moves less, the money is expressing a view on data center hardware rather than on any single reporting quarter.

The iShares U.S. Technology ETF’s 0.84% gain sits below the moves in all three hardware names, and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust’s 0.36% is smaller still. That’s the framing contrast in one line for Dell, Super Micro and Hewlett Packard Enterprise: hardware over technology, technology over the index.

What buyers are willing to pay for in Dell is its place in the data center buildout, and the suppliers behind that buildout, from power to cooling to networking, are the subject of a free report on seven AI infrastructure names that aren’t chipmakers. The year-to-date move in Dell shows how much of that positioning is already in the price, and a sponsor unwind at a name that has run this hard in nine months tends to weigh on same-day price action less than the demand narrative does, especially when peers are cooperating on the same tape.

What to Watch

The Federal Reserve announces a rate decision later in the session, and that outcome is the day’s larger overhang for every server name here. A hawkish surprise could reset the tape and take Dell, Super Micro and Hewlett Packard Enterprise with it, while a dovish tone could extend the morning’s move into the afternoon for the whole group.

Traders can watch for whether Dell holds its gain through the Fed headline and whether Super Micro and Hewlett Packard Enterprise continue to track Dell higher. Shareholders in Dell should keep their position sizing proportional to the risk that a sponsor sell-down and a policy headline arrive on the same session, and they should adjust their exposure if the peer group breaks away from Dell after the decision lands.

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David Moadel

David Moadel is financial writer specializing in stocks, ETFs, options, precious metals, and Bitcoin. David has written well over 1,000 articles for leading online publications, helping investors understand markets, income strategies, and risk.His work has appeared in The Motley Fool, InvestorPlace, U.S. News & World Report, TipRanks, ValueWalk, Benzinga, Market Realist, TalkMarkets, Finmasters, 24/7 Wall St., and others.With a master’s degree in education, David has taught at the elementary, high school, and college levels. That teaching background shapes his writing style: clear, educational, and practical. David has also built a loyal social-media audience by providing trustworthy financial content on YouTube, X/Twitter, and StockTwits.

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