Investors reacted to a 13.4% increase in unaudited gross operating revenue, which reached $1.2 billion for the first quarter. By 1:40pm AEST the stock traded 8.2% higher at $9.64.
Over the four months to 30 April, group gross operating profit rose 19.3% to $120 million and EBITDA climbed 32% to $58.2 million. Net profit before tax surged 45.5% year on year to $47.3 million and the company announced a first interim FY26 dividend of 11.5 cents a share, payable on 2 June.
Management links the stronger start to the year to robust momentum across software offerings and data centre refresh portfolios, which offset softer expectations in endpoint solutions for the rest of 2026.
Performance across May and June is expected to remain solid as customers ramp up spending before financial year-end.
AI-focused revenue is forecast to accelerate in the second half, projected to top $20 million as deployments expand.
Higher inventory replenishment costs tied to global supply chain pressures are set to weigh on margins even as sales grow.
The update positions Dicker Data as a beneficiary of accelerating enterprise IT upgrades, particularly in infrastructure and AI workloads. Revenue tied to AI is set to become a more meaningful contributor even as hardware-oriented endpoint growth cools.
Elevated supply chain costs highlight the trade-off between stocking aggressively for demand and protecting profitability. Investors now watch whether the strong early momentum into June can carry through the second half as those cost and growth dynamics play out.
