HP (NYSE:HPQ) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

HP (NYSE:HPQ) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The computer maker reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.17, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $15.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.44 billion. HP had a net margin of 4.45% and a negative return on equity of 581.36%. HP updated its FY 2026 guidance to 3.190-3.290 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance to 0.690-0.790 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from HP’s conference call:

• HP sees AI inference shifting toward a hybrid model, with workloads distributed across devices, on-premises systems, and the cloud. The company argues that local processing can reduce token costs while improving data sovereignty, security, and privacy.
• HP believes AI PCs could support meaningful cost savings, citing an estimated $650,000 per 1,000 employees for basic local queries and potentially more as devices run larger models and additional agentic workloads.
• Enterprise adoption may lag hardware capabilities because many IT departments have not yet established policies governing which workloads should run on-device versus in the cloud. Software integration, governance, and security remain important prerequisites for broader deployment.
• HP is positioning itself beyond PC hardware through three layers: intelligent devices, a connected workplace ecosystem, and IT management and security tools such as its Workforce Experience Platform and Wolf Security stack.
• Management expects agentic AI to create a large premiumization opportunity for PCs, potentially enabling new software and services revenue in addition to higher-value hardware as customers seek improved ROI from AI deployments.

HP Stock Up 3.7%

NYSE HPQ traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $30.62. 22,122,682 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,302,463. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.55. HP has a 52 week low of $17.56 and a 52 week high of $32.19. The stock has a market cap of $28.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.17.

HP Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. HP’s payout ratio is presently 44.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David P. Mcquarrie sold 21,048 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.98, for a total value of $631,019.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 39,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,186,608.40. This trade represents a 34.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 52,620 shares of company stock valued at $1,478,622. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of HP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in HP by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,236,428 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $339,468,000 after buying an additional 3,671,511 shares during the period. Rare Wolf Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HP in the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HP by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 277,505 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $6,183,000 after acquiring an additional 59,567 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of HP by 121.0% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 236,300 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $5,265,000 after purchasing an additional 129,400 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of HP by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 412,816 shares of the computer maker’s stock worth $9,198,000 after purchasing an additional 45,609 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HPQ. TD Cowen raised their price objective on HP from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on HP from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Bank of America raised their price target on HP from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised HP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on HP from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $24.17.

Key HP News

Here are the key news stories impacting HP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HP signed a multi-year, global cross-licensing agreement with Huawei covering certain Wi-Fi patents. The deal could provide HP access to useful connectivity technology and helped improve sentiment despite Huawei’s presence on the U.S. entity list. HP partners with U.S.-blacklisted Huawei for licensing the Chinese company’s WiFi tech
• Positive Sentiment: The earnings preview highlights continued PC demand and potential revenue growth, with analysts forecasting approximately $14.39 billion in quarterly revenue. Investors are also watching whether pricing and margin performance can offset industry pressures. HP Q3 2026 earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: HP was scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter results after the market close on Aug. 26. Analysts expected earnings of about $0.66 per share, and the company had declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share. The report and management’s outlook are the next major catalysts. HP likely to report lower Q3 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are positioning for a potentially large move around earnings, indicating elevated uncertainty rather than a clear directional view. HP earnings preview: Options traders brace for big move
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts were expecting lower fiscal third-quarter earnings than the prior-year period, creating downside risk if HP misses estimates or gives a weaker outlook. Unusually heavy trading in long-dated HPQ put options also signals that some investors are hedging against longer-term weakness. HP results and unusual options activity

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.