Last night’s two financial reports split America in half
$51.3 billion piled up in Dell’s warehouses, 6.6% written on Costco’s receipts. You tell me— is this the same America?
Last night after the US stock market closed, two things happened simultaneously.
Dell: AI server order backlog hits $51.3 billion, a record high. Costco: Same-store sales growth hits 6.6%, beating market expectations of 8.1%, leaving the market’s face swollen.
One warehouse can’t hold the orders. One warehouse has no one willing to pay.
This is the most divided scene of 2025.
Act One: Over on AI, it’s not making money, it’s printing money
Dell’s Q1 revenue hits $43.8 billion, beating expectations by a full 26%. AI server revenue reaches $16.1 billion, up 757% year-over-year.
Listen carefully: 757%. Not 75%, not 157%. It’s nearly eight times.
What does a backlog of $51.3 billion mean? It’s like Dell has to stop its production line now, and only finish in mid-next year.
The CEO said: “We’re constantly repricing every day, seeing no signs of relief.”
Nvidia’s GPUs are sold out before leaving the factory, Dell’s servers are snapped up before assembly. This isn’t business, it’s war for resources.
Act Two: Over at Costco, Americans are even starting to cut costs
Costco, the last bastion for ordinary American families. If you’re poor, you go to Costco. If you’re rich, you go to Costco. It’s the most accurate consumer thermometer in the US.
And the result? Same-store sales growth of 6.6%, versus an expected 8.1%.
Missing that 1.5% seems small, but look at where the gap is— e-commerce grew 21%, people aren’t even leaving their homes, just clicking online to save fuel. Pharmaceuticals and gold sell well, clothes and furniture are untouched.
This isn’t saving money, it’s saving lives.
US consumer confidence in May dropped to 50.8, the second lowest in 75 years. Retail sales in May fell 0.9% month-over-month, the biggest drop in four months.
Ordinary people aren’t buying new cars, fixing houses, or big appliances. Even Costco members are tightening their belts. And you tell me consumer spending is fine?
Act Three: What is the market pricing? — “Divided” pricing
Wall Street is doing something surreal: on one hand, pushing Dell’s stock up 30% after hours; on the other, labeling Costco’s results as “in line,” pretending not to see the 6.6%.
Why? Because institutions can pull money out of consumer stocks and pour it into AI. And retail investors? They’re still waiting for a consumer rebound.
Wake up, consumer spending won’t rebound.
The fire in AI is burning corporate capital expenditure, the money of cloud providers. The freeze in consumer spending is freezing the wallets of ordinary people, with wages unable to keep up with inflation.
Starting from Q1 2025, these two trends will diverge more and more. The productivity of the rich is thriving in AI, while the purchasing power of the poor shrinks in Costco.
This isn’t a cycle, it’s a structural shift.
What does this mean for our Web3 circle?
AI is the only main theme in 2025. Dell, Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom—these companies’ earnings will keep exploding quarter after quarter. Institutional money will keep shifting from consumer, healthcare, and traditional industries into AI. If you’re not on the AI track, you’re effectively going against the flow.
Don’t expect the crypto market to “rise with the tide.” Liquidity is being drained by AI—venture capital, sovereign funds, even retail investors’ money are all flowing toward Nvidia and Dell. You either embrace AI-related tokens (beware, 90% are trash), or patiently HODL Bitcoin and wait for the wind. Don’t touch those “consumer revival” meme coins—Americans are running out of money to spend, who’s going to revive the economy?
The final fact: the $51.3 billion backlog shows companies aren’t short of money.
The 6.6% same-store sales growth indicates that ordinary people really don’t have money. The market will only recognize one thing going forward: whoever makes money for companies will rise. Whoever relies on consumers to spend will fall.
AI server backlog extends into next year, but Costco’s receipts are getting thinner—
The same US stock market, half burning money building computing power, half saving money buying gold.
Where you stand will decide whether you’re eating meat
#成长值抽奖赢金条 or drinking wind in 2026.