BlackRock vs Dell: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
BlackRock reported $24.2B of revenue in FY2025 and $5.6B of net income. Dell reported $113.5B of revenue in FY2026 and $5.9B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
BlackRock
BlackRock's revenue grew from $19.37 billion in 2021 to $24.22 billion in 2025, with a dip in 2022 and 2023 when stock and bond prices fell. Revenue jumped 19% in 2025 on higher markets, 9% organic base fee growth and fees from GIP and HPS. GAAP operating income fell 7% to $7.05 billion because of non-cash acquisition expenses and a charitable gift of Circle shares, but adjusted operating income rose 18% to $9.6 billion, a 44.1% margin. The firm returned $5 billion to shareholders in 2025 and raised its quarterly dividend 10% to $5.73 for 2026. In Q2 2026 revenue rose 31% to $7.08 billion, GAAP diluted EPS was $12.19 ($13.91 as adjusted), and planned buybacks were lifted to $550 million a quarter.
Dell
Dell's fiscal year ends in late January or early February. Revenue fell from $102.3 billion in fiscal 2023 to $88.4 billion in fiscal 2024 as post-pandemic PC demand faded, then recovered to $95.6 billion in fiscal 2025 and a record $113.5 billion in fiscal 2026, when net income reached $5.94 billion, operating cash flow topped $11 billion and $7.5 billion was returned to shareholders. Fiscal 2027 has accelerated: Q1 revenue was $43.8 billion (up 88%) and Q2 revenue was $47.0 billion (up 58%), with Q2 diluted EPS of $6.34. In September 2026 Dell raised full-year fiscal 2027 guidance to about $192 billion in revenue and $25.50 in non-GAAP EPS. The balance sheet still carries debt from the 2016 EMC deal, though leverage has fallen through the VMware spin-off and cash generation.
Revenue and profit by year
Where the revenue comes from
BlackRock
- Investment advisory and administration fees
largest stream
Base fees charged on AUM across iShares ETFs, index, active, cash and private markets products.
- Technology services and subscriptions
~8% of 2025 revenue
Aladdin, eFront and Preqin software and data, about $2.0 billion in 2025 and $566 million in Q2 2026.
- Performance fees, distribution and securities lending
variable stream
Performance fees ($305 million in Q2 2026), distribution fees and lending revenue that move with markets, flows and fund results.
Dell
- Client SolutionsMajor
Revenue from commercial and consumer PCs, workstations, peripherals, and related support.
- Infrastructure SolutionsMajor
Revenue from servers, storage, networking, AI infrastructure, and data-center systems.
- Services, Support, and Financing
Supporting
Revenue from warranties, support contracts, deployment, managed services, and financing tied to hardware and infrastructure sales.
Business model and strategy
BlackRock
How it makes money
BlackRock makes money in three main ways. The largest is base management and administration fees, charged as a percentage of the assets it runs across iShares ETFs, index and active funds, cash funds and institutional mandates. The second is technology services and subscription revenue from Aladdin, eFront and Preqin, which reached about $2.0 billion in 2025, up 24%.
Growth strategy
Growth now comes from four places. Private markets: GIP (closed October 2024, about $12.5 billion), HPS Investment Partners (closed July 2025, about $12 billion in stock) and ElmTree (2025) made BlackRock a major infrastructure and private credit manager, and GIP helped lead the $40 billion Aligned Data Centers purchase that closed in July 2026.
Competitive advantage
BlackRock's edge is scale combined with breadth. Running $15.3 trillion lets it price core iShares funds at 0.03% and still post a 44.1% adjusted operating margin in 2025, which smaller rivals cannot match. iShares also offers deep trading liquidity in many ETF categories, which matters to institutions moving large blocks.
Dell
How it makes money
Dell makes money by selling hardware plus attached services and financing. The Infrastructure Solutions Group sells AI-optimized servers built around Nvidia (and some AMD) accelerators, traditional PowerEdge servers, networking and storage to enterprises, cloud service providers and governments; in Q2 fiscal 2027 ISG produced $31.8 billion of revenue and $4.8 billion of operating income.
Growth strategy
Dell's growth strategy has three parts. First, win AI infrastructure share by shipping GPU-dense, liquid-cooled rack systems (PowerEdge XE servers with Nvidia Blackwell-generation GPUs) to neoclouds, sovereign AI programs and large enterprises, packaged as the Dell AI Factory.
Competitive advantage
Dell's edge is breadth and scale in enterprise relationships. It can sell a customer everything from 10,000 laptops to a liquid-cooled GPU cluster with storage, networking, deployment and financing under one contract, and support it worldwide.
Questions about BlackRock vs Dell
Which company has higher revenue — BlackRock, Inc. or Dell Technologies Inc.?
BlackRock, Inc. reported $24.2B (FY2025), while Dell Technologies Inc. reported $113.5B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Dell Technologies Inc. is the larger business, with BlackRock, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of BlackRock, Inc. vs Dell Technologies Inc.?
BlackRock, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $166.2B, while Dell Technologies Inc.'s is $360.0B. Dell Technologies Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to BlackRock, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — BlackRock, Inc. or Dell Technologies Inc.?
BlackRock, Inc. generates $973k / employee in revenue per employee, while Dell Technologies Inc. generates $1.17M / employee. Dell Technologies Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do BlackRock, Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc. make money?
BlackRock, Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. BlackRock, Inc.: BlackRock makes money in three main ways. Dell Technologies Inc.: Dell makes money by selling hardware plus attached services and financing.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — BlackRock, Inc. or Dell Technologies Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, BlackRock, Inc. trades at 6.9x P/S and Dell Technologies Inc. at 3.2x P/S. BlackRock, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Dell Technologies Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is BlackRock, Inc. bigger than Dell Technologies Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Dell Technologies Inc. ($113.5B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to BlackRock, Inc. ($24.2B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the BlackRock vs Dell overview