New York, May 22, 2026, 14:04 (EDT)
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares jumped almost 10% Friday, pushing their strong May rally further.
- Analysts cited demand for AI infrastructure and networking. HPE’s June 1 earnings call is now the company’s next big event.
- There are still risks when it comes to valuation, memory-chip costs, and if customers will keep spending like this.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock was up 9.9% to $37.33 by 2:01 p.m. EDT on Friday, with traders moving into hardware and networking names ahead of a packed earnings calendar. Shares traded during open U.S. markets, with a break coming up for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25.
HPE is making this move less than two weeks before its fiscal Q2 earnings call set for June 1. The company said it will report results for the quarter ended April 30, which will show if AI server and networking gear demand is showing up in revenue and margins.
Evercore ISI thinks hardware and networking shares look strong going into earnings. The firm pointed to steady demand for AI infrastructure and network upgrades. Evercore expects Dell Technologies and HPE to both beat and possibly lift full-year outlooks, with Dell the top pick.
Dell jumped 16.6%, HP Inc. added 14.4% and HPE climbed 10.6% on Friday, Investing.com market data showed. The move wasn’t just about HPE this time—traders bought up legacy hardware names on AI demand.
Bernstein SocGen lifted its price target on HPE to $35 from $21 this week, sticking to a Market Perform rating. The firm pointed to stronger demand for traditional servers driven by agentic AI workloads — software that acts more independently and needs more computing power. Bernstein SocGen also said HPE could take share if Super Micro Computer stumbles.
HPE is pushing its networking business too. The company said May 20 that Gartner put HPE in the Leader spot for its 2026 Magic Quadrant covering enterprise wired and wireless LAN infrastructure. The ranking looks at vendors in office and campus networking. Sujai Hajela, executive vice president for campus and branch networking, said HPE earned the spot thanks to “strong customer momentum” behind its AI-native, self-driving networks. Hewlett Packard Enterprise
HPE said a day after its last update that South Korea’s FASTFIVE picked HPE Aruba Networking EdgeConnect SSE to boost security and cut IT complexity at over 60 of its offices. FASTFIVE CIO Wookyung Kim said the platform provides “visibility, consistency, and agility” needed as the company grows. Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Hewlett Packard Enterprise is getting some support on the balance sheet. HPE sold a 13.8% stake in H3C Technologies for about $986.8 million and plans to sell another 5.2% stake for around $370.4 million in the first half of 2026. Analysts link these moves to efforts to reduce debt after HPE bought Juniper.
Activist moves are still in play. Elliott Investment Management disclosed a stake of 27.4 million HPE shares, worth around $652.9 million, in its first-quarter 13F filing. The filing details institutional holdings.
But now the stock looks more exposed if things go wrong. Morgan Stanley’s Erik Woodring said this week that IT hardware valuations are looking stretched, and warned that investors could be missing “the forest through the trees.” He pointed to rising memory-chip costs, supply issues, and macro volatility as risks for margins and earnings in the second half. Memory chips are key in servers, so higher prices cut into profit if vendors can’t push those costs through. Investing.com
Bear case going into June 1 is clear. HPE needs AI server orders, Juniper and Aruba networking sales, plus H3C cash to balance rising costs and the risk of weaker customer spending. Shares have already moved ahead. Now the next report has to deliver.
