HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) is having a better Friday than it did Thursday. After a rough post-earnings slide, the stock is trending upward as investors recalibrate and analysts tweak their price targets. The broader market is slightly in the red, with the Nasdaq down 0.18% and the S&P 500 off 0.03%, but HP is bucking the trend.
So what's driving the bounce? It's a mix of bargain hunting and a fresh round of analyst revisions. On Thursday, TD Cowen kept a Hold rating but raised its price target to $30. UBS maintained Neutral but bumped its target to $28. Morgan Stanley stayed Underweight but lifted its forecast to $19. These aren't exactly ringing endorsements, but the upward revisions signal that the worst might be over.
The initial selloff on Thursday was all about PC and printer demand concerns. But when you look at the actual numbers, HP's third quarter was pretty solid. The company reported earnings of 83 cents per share, beating the 69-cent estimate by a healthy 20.29%. Revenue came in at $15.68 billion, topping the $14.34 billion Street forecast and climbing from $13.93 billion a year ago.
Interim CEO Bruce Broussard highlighted the company's momentum in premium products: "In the third quarter we increased both total sales and share in premium products and continued to attract new customers with innovations in WXP, Print, workstations and AI PCs."
HP also raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to $3.19 to $3.29 per share, up from the prior $2.90 to $3.10 range. That's comfortably above the $3.04 analysts were expecting.
From a technical standpoint, HPQ is still in a constructive longer-term setup. The stock is trading above its 20-day, 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day moving averages, and the 50-day SMA remains above the 200-day SMA following the golden cross in June. However, price is only modestly above the 20-day SMA at $29.48, which makes the near-term trend more sensitive to follow-through selling.
Here are the key levels to watch:
- Key Resistance: $32 — a round-number ceiling just below the $32.19 52-week high area where rebounds can stall.
- Key Support: $27.50 — a nearby pivot zone that sits closer to the 50-day SMA ($26.39), making it a level bulls want to defend on deeper pullbacks.
At the time of publication on Friday, HP shares were up 1.77% at $30.15. The question now is whether this bounce has legs or if the market is just catching its breath. With raised guidance and analyst targets moving higher, the bulls have some ammunition. But the cautious ratings remind us that the PC market's health is still a wildcard.





















