Dell Technologies (DELL) is pumping the brakes on Project Maverick, its ambitious plan to overhaul AI infrastructure across the company. According to Business Insider, the project has hit some speed bumps that nobody saw coming.

Timeline Takes a Hit

Here's the new schedule: The first phase, which was supposed to retire most backend systems in one of Dell's key divisions by February 2026, is now pushed to May. The second division's upgrade slides from May 2026 to August. That's a pretty significant delay for a project this scale.

In an internal memo, Dell Vice Chairman and COO Jeff Clarke laid it out for executives and project leads. The bottom line? A recent readiness review showed the new system wasn't prepared to handle the demands of Dell's global operations. When you're operating at Dell's scale, "not quite ready" can mean serious problems down the road.

The rollout strategy puts the client solutions group first in line. That's the division handling PCs and monitors. After that comes the infrastructure solutions group, which deals with servers, storage, and other IT hardware. Dell hasn't commented publicly on the delay.

Bad Timing All Around

The Project Maverick delay comes at a particularly rough moment for Dell. Just days before the postponement became public, Morgan Stanley delivered a harsh verdict: a double downgrade from Overweight to Underweight, with the price target slashed from $144 to $110. That's not the kind of analyst action that inspires confidence.

Then BofA Securities piled on Thursday, cutting its price target from $170 to $160. The concern? Skyrocketing DRAM and NAND prices that could squeeze margins. But it's not all doom and gloom. BofA Securities analyst Wamsi Mohan said back in August that he expects AI server demand to stay strong, forecasting earnings above $19 per share by 2030. He's banking on a 15% CAGR from 2025 to 2030, driven by AI servers, better margins from product mix improvements, and growing AI PC adoption.

Dell's recent numbers tell a mixed story. The company posted second-quarter revenue of $29.78 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.32 per share, just edging past expectations. Overall revenue climbed 19% year-over-year, and here's the interesting part: servers and networking jumped 69% to $12.9 billion. The AI infrastructure business is clearly booming, even if the internal systems upgrade is struggling. Third-quarter results are scheduled for November 25.

Dell ranks in the 83rd percentile for growth but only the 30th percentile for value, reflecting a company caught between strong momentum in AI and concerns about valuation and execution.

Price Action: Over the past week, Dell stock has dropped 14.61%. On Wednesday, shares closed 2.70% lower at $119.38.