HP (NYSE:HPQ) Given New $19.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target on HP from $17 to $19 while keeping an underweight rating, implying about 25.6% downside from the current share price.
• HP recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting Q2 revenue of $14.4 billion and EPS of $0.86, helped by stronger demand for AI-optimized PCs and the Windows 11 refresh cycle.
• Despite the earnings beat, HP cut its fiscal 2026 profit guidance to $2.15-$2.45 per share from $2.47-$2.77, suggesting ongoing margin pressure from rising costs.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $17.00 to $19.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "underweight" rating on the computer maker's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price indicates a potential downside of 25.64% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on HPQ. Zacks Research upgraded shares of HP from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of HP from $21.00 to $16.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of HP in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of HP from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of HP in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HP currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $22.08.

HP Stock Performance

Shares of HPQ stock opened at $25.55 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 1.09. The company's 50 day moving average price is $20.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.11. HP has a 52 week low of $17.56 and a 52 week high of $29.55.

HP (NYSE:HPQ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The computer maker reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.14. HP had a net margin of 4.46% and a negative return on equity of 367.41%. The firm had revenue of $14.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. HP has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.100 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.610-0.710 EPS. Analysts forecast that HP will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HP

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HPQ. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in HP by 242.2% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 10,594,630 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $236,048,000 after buying an additional 7,498,202 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in HP during the fourth quarter worth $149,309,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in HP by 186.1% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,378,723 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $228,153,000 after buying an additional 5,449,691 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in HP by 143.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,039,803 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $244,527,000 after buying an additional 5,325,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in HP by 626.6% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,948,700 shares of the computer maker's stock worth $110,257,000 after buying an additional 4,267,600 shares during the last quarter. 77.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting HP

Here are the key news stories impacting HP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HP reported Q2 revenue of $14.4 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $0.86, both above Wall Street estimates, with revenue up 9% year over year and earnings up 21%. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Management said demand was boosted by AI-optimized PCs and the Windows 11 refresh cycle, which supports the outlook for HP’s personal systems business. GuruFocus article
• Neutral Sentiment: HP also generated $0.8 billion in free cash flow and returned $374 million to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, which reinforces its cash-generation profile. Globe Newswire article
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat, HP cut its fiscal 2026 profit guidance to $2.15-$2.45 per share from $2.47-$2.77, signaling margin pressure from rising costs. WSJ article

HP Company Profile

HP Inc is an American multinational information technology company that designs, manufactures and sells personal computing devices, printers and related supplies and services. Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial notebooks and desktops, workstations, displays and accessories, as well as an extensive line of printing hardware that includes home, office and production printers. HP also provides consumables such as ink and toner, managed print services, device deployment and lifecycle support, and software for device and print management.

Founded from the original Hewlett‑Packard Company, HP Inc became a separately traded public company in 2015 following a corporate split that created Hewlett Packard Enterprise to focus on enterprise hardware and services.

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