New York, January 16, 2026, 20:58 EST — Market closed.
Eaton Corp plc shares rose 3.1%, closing at $343.75 on Friday, boosted by an HSBC upgrade that kept the stock active despite the U.S. market holiday. Trading ranged from $335.03 to $349.51. 1
Timing is key. U.S. stocks won’t trade Monday due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, offering investors an extended break to consider if the recent rally was just a brief bounce from brokerage reports or the beginning of a larger trend driven by data-center investment. 2
HSBC’s Sean McLoughlin upgraded Eaton from Hold to Buy, pushing his price target up to $400 from $390. He highlighted the company’s “diversified” portfolio, which gives it significant exposure to data centers. McLoughlin also dismissed any negative impact from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s recent cautious remarks that had weighed on some data-center cooling stocks. He pointed to “above-market growth prospects” for Eaton. Price targets reflect analysts’ projections for where a stock could trade over the next year. 3
Other banks remained positive but lowered their estimates ahead of the quarter. JPMorgan reduced its price target to $406 from $440 while maintaining an Overweight rating, signaling confidence the stock will outperform its sector. The update came as the firm revised its electrical equipment and multi-industry forecasts ahead of the fourth-quarter earnings. 4
Eaton bucked the broader market trend, climbing despite the S&P 500 slipping 0.06% and the Dow falling 0.17%, according to MarketWatch data. Volume was heavier than the 50-day average, though Eaton still trades roughly 14% below its 52-week peak. Shares of GE Aerospace and Emerson also gained, while TE Connectivity edged lower. 5
Technicians noted Eaton pushed past its 200-day moving average on Friday, a key trend line many traders watch to gauge momentum. According to Nasdaq, the stock broke above the 200-day average around $341.64 during the session. 6
But the bull case could shrink quickly if demand beyond data centers falters. RBC Capital Markets cut its Eaton price target to $399 from $432 but kept an Outperform rating, noting data centers were growing at “mid-teen%-plus” rates while most other industrial demand appeared “sluggish and uneven.” 7
Eaton is expanding its footprint in data centers beyond just power equipment. In November, it struck a deal to acquire Boyd Corp’s thermal business for $9.5 billion. This move brings liquid-cooling tech into Eaton’s portfolio, catering to customers ramping up power-hungry AI infrastructure. 8
Up next: earnings. Based on past patterns, Eaton is expected to report sometime between Jan. 29 and Feb. 2, though the company hasn’t officially set a date. Eaton typically releases its quarterly results before the NYSE opens and follows up with a conference call at 11 a.m. Eastern on the same day. 9
