You don't have to read tea leaves to try to learn about companies' prospects. However, it's not a bad idea to read the transcripts from other companies that operate in the same industry. Sometimes, executives from a competitor, customer, or vendor share things in quarterly updates that provide insight you can't get anywhere else.

Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) just might have done just that last week. On Feb. 29, the technology company held its quarterly conference call to discuss its fourth-quarter results. During that call, Dell gave Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Advanced Micro Computers (NASDAQ: AMD) investors something to cheer. And it perhaps gave Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) investors something to fear.

Like many companies, Dell is enjoying strong tailwinds from the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). COO Jeff Clark said in the Q4 conference call that his company saw robust demand for its AI-optimized servers. Clark added that Dell's flagship PowerEdge XE9680 is "the fastest-ramping solution in company history." Overall, orders in Q4 for the company's AI-optimized servers soared by nearly 40% from the previous quarter.

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Source Fool.com