Dell was upgraded to BBB- from BB+ by Fitch on its strengthened credit profile from “ongoing debt reduction and solid operating momentum”. Dell’s credit profile strengthened from the use of free cash flow (FCF) for debt reduction. The company reduced core debt by $5.5bn in fiscal year ending January 31, 2022, following at least $5bn in each of the last two fiscal years, as per Fitch. Alongside its strong operating momentum, solid demand for PCs, peripherals and servers, they expect core leverage to decrease to 2.5x during the same period. Fitch sees Dell’s debt reducing irrespective of its spin-off of VMware until it achieves its long-term 1.5-2.0x core leverage target. Dell currently holds 80.6% of VMware. Dell is expected to maintain solid liquidity and use FCF for bolt-on acquisitions and share repurchases. On the negative side, the challenging infrastructure spending environment is expected to constrain growth. Besides, post-spin-off profit margins will moderate in FY2022 from its recent peak – EBITDA margins are to remain ~9% vs. ~10% in FY2020-21.
Dell’s 6.2% 2030s were stable at 128.9, yielding 2.44%.
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