Demand for AI and hardware bolsters CDW Q1 numbers
Firm’s first-quarter results make it evident that customers are looking to secure storage and hardware, as well as cranking up their investments in artificial intelligence
IT provider CDW has identified growing customer demand for artificial intelligence (AI) as a key driver of its first-quarter growth, with the UK contributing to its positive results.
The transition from AI evaluation to deployment has begun to drive sales, while the channel player also benefited from strong hardware demand as customers rushed to secure orders before the spectre of higher prices arrived.
Net sales for the three months to 31 March 2026 came in at $5.68bn, up by 9.2% on the first quarter last year. That improvement was largely down to increased demand for storage, servers and laptops, as users looked to get ahead of the supply constraints affecting hardware supplies.
Albert Miralles, chief financial officer at CDW, said the first quarter had been defined by “strong demand for infrastructure hardware”, combined with the firm taking a disciplined approach to drive net sales growth.
“We continue to prioritise disciplined working capital management while supporting our customers in a dynamic environment, enabling strong cash flow and capital flexibility,” he said.
Breaking the performance down into operating segments saw the company improve commercial net sales by 9.6% to hit $3.57bn, thanks to demand from key verticals including financial services, healthcare and corporate. The education-facing business improved by 2.5%.
The firm’s government segment delivered sales of $633m, which translated into a 4.6% year-on-year improvement.
Net income improved by 4.7% to hit $235m in the first quarter, and operating income grew by 4% to reach $376m.
The UK is combined with Canada in the firm’s accounts, with the regions recorded as contributing net sales of $803m, a 17.9% improvement on the same period last year.
In an environment defined by complexity and rapid technology change, CDW’s role as a trusted adviser has never been more relevant. Our ability to operate across the full technology stack and lifecycle enables us to help customers convert complexity into measurable outcomes
Christine Leahy, CDW
“CDW delivered a strong first quarter, reflecting outcome-driven execution in a complex and fast-moving environment,” said Christine Leahy, chair and chief executive officer of CDW.
“As customers move from AI exploration into real, production environments, they are increasingly relying on partners with the integration, governance and lifecycle expertise to execute at scale. Our diversified end markets, services-led, full-stack capabilities and continued progress on our AI-forward strategy position us to capture demand and deliver value as the year unfolds,” she added.
Leahy touched on the pressures that customers were facing in dealing with shortages and corresponding price rises when speaking in the results webcast.
“Customers also navigated memory supply and pricing constraints, which reshaped budget priorities in this quarter. Teams responded quickly by leveraging our partner relationships, full-stack capabilities and balance sheet strength to help customers secure product and identify alternatives, once again demonstrating their unmatched execution in yet another challenging supply market,” she said.
CDW’s results indicated that even against a backdrop of ongoing political and economic uncertainty, its customers had continued to invest in technology. As such, Leahy spoke with confidence about the prospects for the rest of the fiscal year.
“In an environment defined by complexity and rapid technology change, CDW’s role as a trusted adviser has never been more relevant,” she said. “Our ability to operate across the full technology stack and lifecycle enables us to help customers convert complexity into measurable outcomes. With this foundation, we remain confident in our ability to exceed US IT addressable market growth by 200 to 300 basis points on a constant currency basis.”
