3 Giants Across Sectors Raise Shares 15% or More

Big names across the financial, industrial, and technology sectors have recently announced noteworthy earnings increases. The increase in profits from these three firms is not the result of the mills; all are close to or above 15%.

Another company, benefiting greatly from the demand for artificial intelligence (AI), stepped forward. With expectations to double AI revenue in its new fiscal year, it raised its dividend by 20%, placing its yield among the highest among tech stocks.

AXP Raises Dividend 16% Amid Citrine Fears

Credit card giant American Express (NYSE: AXP ) has been a strong performer over the past few years, but has come under fire recently. The stock’s three-year total return exceeds 70%, basically equaling the S&P 500’s return over the same period. However, the stock is down about 20% in 2026.

Shares are doing very well after the release of a dystopian paper issued by Citrini Research. Among other things, Citrini has set a scenario where AI agents will use stablecoins to pay the route without traditional card networks.

This would allow merchants to bypass the fees they now pay every time someone makes a purchase using an American Express card. Such a scenario would be bearish for American Express.

However, Citrini’s paper was not a prediction but a conceptual exercise intended to model the “understudied” state of AI.

As for American Express itself, the company continues to show confidence in its future, recently announcing a big-time dividend increase. The company’s quarterly dividend will rise 16% to 95 cents per share. This gives the stock a full indexed yield of close to 1.3%, which is higher than the 1.1% yield offered by the S&P 500 Index. The company will pay its next quarterly dividend on May 8 to shareholders of record on April 3.

WM Posts Record Margin, Issues Double-Digit Dividend

Waste Management (NYSE: WM ) is a stock that many investors would consider boring, but its performance offers real room for excitement. Over the past three years, the total return on Waste Management has been around 70%. The stock was once again the strongest in 2026, rising 12% as the S&P 500 edged lower.

As a leader in the waste industry, the company has strong pricing power. This allows Waste Management to pass on price increases to its customers and vice versa, helping to increase margins.

Notably, the main price of Waste Management increased by 6.3% in 2025. This has contributed to the company posting its best operating expenses as a percentage of revenue in 2025. In other words, the company posted its best adjusted operating profit before profit, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin ever.

The company sees prices rising 5.6% through mid-2026. This is 250 points higher than expected cost increases, reflecting WM’s impressive pricing power.

Adding to the good news, Waste Management recently increased its quarterly earnings by nearly 15%. The company will pay its next quarterly dividend of 94.5% on March 27 to shareholders of record on March 13. The stock now has a dividend yield of about 1.3%.

DELL’s Dividend Rises Along with AI Orders

Last is Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL ), which has gained nearly 300% over the past three years. The stock’s performance in 2026 hasn’t been bad at all, rising more than 15%. The company beat past expectations in its latest earnings report, sending shares up more than 20%.

Dell has been seeing huge demand for its AI-powered servers. In Q4, the company booked more than $34 billion in AI orders, while shipping only $9.5 billion. This shows that customers are demanding Dell’s AI solutions faster than it can deliver. Importantly, the company ended its fiscal year 2026 (FY2026) with a background AI record of 43 billion. (Note that Dell’s fiscal year is several quarters ahead of the calendar year.)

Looking to FY2027, Dell sees its AI revenue doubling to $50 billion, with revenue growing 23% in the mid-term. Achieving this will mark Dell’s fastest revenue growth since FY2018.

Dell is also rewarding investors with a big-time dividend hike, raising its quarterly payout by 20%. The company plans to pay its next dividend of 63 cents on May 1 to shareholders of record as of the close on April 21. Dell’s implied dividend yield now sits at 1.7%, ranking it in the top 20 among major US technology stocks.

DELL: Impressive Growth Expectations, Below Average Forward P/E

Overall, AXP, WM, and DELL are all adding significant juice to their cash-back profiles. In this group, Dell stands out. Amid growing demand for AI, the stock trades at a forward earnings multiple (P/E) of about 11.5x, slightly below its three-year average of 12x.

Companies mentioned in this article:

Company	Current Price	Price Changes	Dividend Yield	The P/E ratio	Consensus ratio	Consensus Price Target
Waste Management (WM)	$246.66	+0.2%	1.34%	36.81	Buy Medium	$253.55
Dell Technologies (DELL)	$146.58	+0.1%	1.43%	16.81	Buy Medium	$163.28
American Express (AXP)	$305.56	+1.5%	1.24%	19.85	Hold on	$352.73

About Leo Miller

Experience

Leo Miller has been a contributing writer for DividendStocks.com since 2024.

• Professional Background: Leo Miller is a financial writer with a background in investment research and market analysis. He held roles as an investment research partner at Laird Norton Wetherby and as a research analyst at Sungarden Investment Publishing, where he gained extensive experience in valuation and portfolio strategies.
• Confirmation: He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, a top-ranked public business school. Passed the CFA Level II exam.
• Financial Experience: Leo started researching and investing in gold mining stocks in 2019 and started writing about finance and investing in 2021. He joined DividendStocks.com as a contributing writer in 2024, where he covers both stocks and ETFs. A strong research base and direct exposure to the financial markets shape his opinions.
• Writing Focus: He specializes in technology stocks, dividend-paying companies, ETFs, and value-oriented opportunities. His work emphasizes clarity, practical understanding, and education for investors at all levels.
• How to Invest: Leo follows a disciplined, long-term investment strategy based on fundamental analysis, with a strong focus on economics, industry and sector research, and passive investment principles.
• Motivation: Leo finds the stock market endlessly compelling and enjoys the challenge of separating meaningful data from the noise. He is interested in analyzing what makes businesses stand out—and sharing that insight to guide informed investment decisions. As he puts it, “Strong analysis requires separating the wheat from the chaff.”
• Fun fact: Leo credits his grandfather with sparking his interest in investing and is a lifelong animal lover.
• Areas of Expertise: Fundamental analysis, economics, industry and sector analysis

Education

Bachelor in Business Administration, Finance, Foster School of Business at the University of Washington