NEW YORK, May 22, 2026, 12:03 EDT
HP Inc. shares jumped more than 15% on Friday, outpacing the broader U.S. market as investors moved into computer-hardware names before the company’s fiscal second-quarter earnings next week.
The stock was up 15.5% at $25.29 at 12:03 p.m. in New York, with the market open, putting HP on track for a sixth straight gain. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were each up less than 1% around midday, leaving HP’s move well ahead of the main indexes.
Why it matters now is simple enough: HP reports on May 27, and the stock has run before investors have fresh numbers. The question is whether stronger PC demand can offset higher memory-chip costs. Memory chips store data used by computers, and higher prices can squeeze margins — the share of sales left as profit after costs.
HP said it will review results for the quarter ended April 30 on Wednesday, May 27, at 5:30 p.m. ET. In February, the company guided for fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings per share — profit per share excluding some items — of 70 cents to 76 cents.
The rally was not only HP. Dell Technologies rose 16.7% and Hewlett Packard Enterprise gained 9.7%, putting the hardware group among the day’s notable gainers. The moves suggest investors are again paying for exposure to enterprise hardware, servers and PCs after months of concern over component inflation.
Morgan Stanley stayed cautious. Analyst Erik Woodring warned that hardware investors may be “missing ’the forest through the trees’,” with pull-forward demand, memory inflation, supply shortages and macro risks threatening margins and earnings in the second half. Pull-forward means customers buy earlier than normal, often to avoid future price increases. Investing.com UK
Bank of America Securities analyst Wamsi Mohan also kept a Sell rating and a $16 price target on HP. He expects pressure from rising memory costs, the CEO transition and mixed PC market trends, and said HP could track toward the low end of its prior guidance.
There is a less negative camp, though not a wildly bullish one. JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee raised his HP target last week to $22 from $19 and kept a Neutral rating, citing easing memory-related concerns across IT hardware. That new target still sits below Friday’s midday share price.
HP’s last report gave both sides material to use. Fiscal first-quarter revenue rose 6.9% to $14.4 billion, helped by 11% growth in Personal Systems, while Printing revenue fell 2%. Interim CEO Bruce Broussard pointed to “continued momentum in AI PCs,” and CFO Karen Parkhill said HP was holding its outlook but expected results closer to the low end amid “increasing memory costs.” HP
The leadership issue remains part of the setup. HP named board member Bruce Broussard interim CEO on Feb. 3 after Enrique Lores stepped down as president and CEO to pursue another professional opportunity. The company said at the time it was reaffirming its first-quarter and fiscal 2026 outlook.
But Friday’s price action raises the bar. If HP cuts fiscal 2026 guidance, shows more PC share loss, or fails to pass higher memory costs through pricing, the stock could give back some of the move. Bank of America also said preliminary data pointed to HP losing share in U.S. and global PCs even as overall industry demand stayed healthy.
For now, traders are buying the earnings setup, not the earnings. HP still has to show that the rebound in PC demand is real enough, and durable enough, to carry profits through a more expensive memory cycle.
