What Analysts Are Saying About HP After Earnings

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 2:33PM EST · Published Feb 23, 12:50PM EST

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What Analysts Are Saying About HP After Earnings — © Thinkstock

[cnxvideo id=”655242″ placement=”ros”]HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) saw its shares hit a post-split multiyear high after the company reported its most recent quarterly earnings on Wednesday. Analysts took the opportunity to adjust their targets on the tech giant. Although many have a middle-of-the-road type view on the stock, most analysts respected this earnings report and hiked their price targets.

24/7 Wall St. has included some of the key highlights from the earnings report, as well as what a few analysts are saying about the stock after the fact.

The company posted $0.38 in earnings per share (EPS) and $12.68 billion in revenue, beating on both the top and bottom lines. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters had called for $0.37 in EPS and revenue of $11.85 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.36 and $12.25 billion in revenue.

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In terms of its segments, HP reported:

Personal Systems net revenue up 10% year over year (up 11% in constant currency) with a 3.8% operating margin. Commercial net revenue increased 7% and Consumer net revenue increased 15%. Total units were up 8% with Notebooks units up 12% and Desktops units flat.

Printing net revenue down 3% year over year (down 2% in constant currency) with a 16.0% operating margin. Total hardware units were up 6% with Commercial hardware units up 2% and Consumer hardware units up 7%. Supplies net revenue was down 3% (down 2% in constant currency).

For guidance in the fiscal second quarter, HP expects to see EPS in the range of $0.37 to $0.40, which compares to the consensus estimates of $0.39 per share on $11.41 billion in revenue.

Some analysts weighed in on the stock:

FBN Securities upgraded HP to Outperform from Sector Perform.
RBC Capital Markets reiterated a Sector Perform rating.
JPMorgan reiterated a Neutral rating but hiked its price target to $16 from $15.50.
Jefferies raised its price target to $16.50.
Maxim has a Hold rating but raised its price target to $16 from $15.
BMO Capital Markets raised its price target to $17.
Mizuho has a Neutral rating and raised its price target to $15 from $14.
Barclays has a $17 price target.

Shares of HP were last seen up nearly 9% at $17.64 on Thursday, with a consensus analyst price target of $16.21 and a 52-week trading range of $9.95 to $17.74.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.