Dell, Nokia, Lenovo: The comeback of tech "veterans" in the AI era

The AI infrastructure construction boom is redefining a group of long-established companies in the technology industry.

Since this year, these seven veteran tech companies—Dell, Nokia, Lenovo, Cisco, Intel, Texas Instruments, and Micron Technology—have averaged a 158% rise, with their combined market value increasing by about $1.7 trillion.

Unlike AI-era star companies such as Nvidia and Meta, these companies’ products are often viewed as “boring” hardware infrastructure. However, it is precisely these tech “old-timers,” long overlooked, that are now seeing a demand inflection point due to the explosive expansion of AI data centers.

Neuberger Berman portfolio manager Yan Taw Boon said that about six months ago, the market began to realize that AI infrastructure construction was accelerating across the board, and that the hardware sector—which has seen extremely limited capacity expansion in recent years—has faced a serious supply-and-demand imbalance. He said:

Whether it’s standard CPUs, networking equipment, or storage and memory, demand is surging rapidly.

Dell: The Largest Single-Day Gain in History Confirms AI Server Demand

In the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, revenue reached $43.8 billion, up 88% year over year, setting a new record high.

Of that, AI server revenue hit $16.1 billion, soaring 757% year over year. Total AI orders in the quarter recorded $24.4 billion. After the earnings report, Dell’s stock price surged 33% in a single day on Friday, marking the company’s largest single-day increase in history.

This earnings report clearly shows the market’s strong demand for its AI servers. At present, Dell’s market value is $125 billion higher than its historical peak in March 2000.

Emmanuel Valavanis of Forte Securities said this impressive report proves that Dell is “another typical case of a former tech dinosaur transforming into a new AI force.”

Dell’s comeback has not been smooth.

After the dot-com bubble burst, the company’s market value evaporated by more than 80%, and it completed privatization and delisted in 2013, only returning to the public market at the end of 2018.

Although the company’s personal computer business has long lost the glory of exceeding 200% growth every year in the late 1990s, the rise of its AI server business has opened up an entirely new growth space.

Lenovo: From a PC Giant to an AI Revenue Engine

Lenovo rose to the global stage in 2005 by acquiring IBM’s personal computer business, becoming the world’s largest PC manufacturer. However, the industry’s long-term structural decline has increasingly reduced the value of this crown.

Facing industry difficulties, Lenovo shifted its transformation by betting on AI products and services, and the results have already been verified in financial data.

Wall Street Insights mentioned that Lenovo released its fiscal year 2026 performance: revenue grew 20% over the past year, AI-related revenue doubled throughout the year, and the proportion of AI-related business in total sales has now approached 40%.

In terms of stock price, Lenovo’s stock rose 105% in May this year, setting the best monthly performance in more than 25 years and reaching a new historical high.

Since the beginning of this year, Lenovo’s stock price has increased by 159%, ranking first among constituents of the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index, with a return more than three times that of the second-place company.

Nokia: After Falling Twice, Finding a New Life by Focusing on Network Equipment

Nokia suffered consecutive setbacks in the 2000s: first after the telecom boom faded, and then its mobile phone business was destroyed by the smartphone wave.

Nokia’s highest market capitalization was once about €300 billion, but by 2012, its stock price had fallen by nearly 98%, making Nokia’s decline one of the most disastrous cases in tech history.

After selling its mobile phone business to Microsoft in 2014, Nokia shifted its strategic focus to telecommunications network equipment, a relatively low-profile track.

In 2025, Nokia acquired the U.S. fiber-optic network specialist Infinera. Coinciding with the explosive demand from AI data centers for high-speed computing cluster interconnections, this provided a key boost for Nokia’s recovery.

Wall Street Insights mentioned that Nokia’s Q1 operating profit jumped 54%, with its AI cloud business booming. Net sales from AI and cloud customers grew 49% quarter-on-quarter, and new orders exceeded €1 billion.

Since the beginning of this year, Nokia’s stock price has risen by more than 124%, ranking as the fourth-largest gainer in the European Stoxx 600 index. However, because the valuation base during the bubble period was too high, its stock price is still about 80% below its all-time highest closing price.

Cisco: From the Peak of the Bubble Era Back to New All-Time Highs Again

Cisco may be the most illustrative company among this batch of veterans in explaining “rebirth.”

In 2000, Cisco briefly topped the world in market capitalization, and then became one of the iconic victims of the burst of the dot-com bubble. After that, it took a full 25 years to reach the historical high point again.

The company’s transformation path is clear: shifting from a traditional network equipment vendor to an AI infrastructure provider.

Wall Street Insights mentioned that the financial report released earlier this month showed strong expectations for Cisco’s fourth-quarter revenue. The company also announced cuts to some positions to focus on its AI business, and growth momentum has continued to move upward.

Since the beginning of this year, Cisco’s stock price has risen 56%, and it is on track to deliver the largest annual relative excess return versus the Nasdaq 100 since 2006.

Intel: After Four CEOs, Finally Landing a Turnaround

Less than two years ago, Intel was still viewed by investors as a “company on the path to decline.” Years of manufacturing problems had eroded its former semiconductor leadership, and its stock price had plummeted.

After the current CEO, Pat Gelsinger, took office, market confidence was gradually rebuilt.

Wall Street Insights mentioned that Intel and Apple have reached preliminary agreements for Intel to produce some chips for Apple devices. The market viewed this as a positive signal that its foundry business is starting to bear fruit.

Earlier, Nvidia announced an investment of $5 billion in Intel, and Intel also announced that its new Xeon chips would be used in some Nvidia systems, driving the stock price up multiple times.

Since the beginning of this year, Intel’s stock price has increased by 211%, and it is expected to achieve the best annual performance in history.

Texas Instruments and Micron: The AI Beneficiaries That Were Undervalued

In the 1990s, Texas Instruments was a leading manufacturer in chips for telecommunications and mobile devices. Between 2000 and 2002, its stock price fell by more than 85% from its peak.

After that, the company struggled to survive in the automotive and industrial markets, and even in the early days of the ChatGPT era it did not immediately benefit.

As demand for higher power density in AI servers rose, Texas Instruments’ chip procurement increased significantly. Its data center business’s annual sales have already exceeded $1 billion, with growth in 2025 exceeding 60%.

Since the beginning of this year, Texas Instruments’ stock price has risen 76%, and it is expected to deliver its best annual performance since 2003.

Micron’s story is even more dramatic. This memory chip maker, founded in the basement of a dental clinic in Idaho nearly 50 years ago, officially crossed the trillion-dollar market capitalization club this month.

As one of the main manufacturers of high-bandwidth memory, Micron directly benefits from the surge in demand brought by the AI compute power boom.

Over the past 12 months, its stock price has risen by more than 903%, and it has set the fastest record for moving from a $500 billion market cap to a trillion-dollar valuation—completing this leap in just 48 trading days.