HP Inc. (HPQ) Downgraded to “In Line” as Analysts See Limited Upside

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) is one of the AI Stocks on Wall Street’s Radar. On September 10, Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani downgraded the stock from Outperform to “In Line” with a price target of $29.00 stating that they don’t see further upside ahead.

The firm noted that for earnings or cash flow to grow meaningfully, stronger trends would be needed which aren’t visible right now due to several cross currents.

The PC market is anticipated to sustain growth, while printing may experience a low single-digits decline. The company has largely offset tariffs through its supply chain efforts and cost cutting. Nearly all North America products are made outside of China.

It also said that the company’s recent PC strength may be temporary, largely driven by customers who are buying ahead of anticipated tariffs. This could create risks for demand estimates in 2026. Other challenges highlighted by the firm were headwinds in the company’s printing division and increased competition from Dell.

“We are adjusting our rating to In Line (from OP) and maintaining our target of $29. Our downgrade reflects the fact that the stock is trading around our price target of $29 and for us to see further upside we need to see a clear path to EPS/FCF numbers moving higher, but that is unlikely to happen in the near-term given a host of cross currents, in our view. HP expects sustained growth in the PC market with the TAM expected to be up mid-single digits with the Win 11 upgrade cycle continuing to drive industry growth into FY26 as well. For Printing, the market should decline low single-digits. From a tariff mitigation perspective, HPQ indicated that they were able to mitigate the majority of cost via supply chain efforts, cost reduction, and pricing; in addition, nearly all North America bound products are now manufactured outside of China. The risk we see for HP could be that much of the strength, especially in PCs, is from pull-ins due to tariff worries and that could create some risk to estimates in FY26, especially in H1. At the same time the headwinds on print side (especially office) remain, and we could see DELL get more aggressive on the PC side given a renewed focus on DELL’s end to stabilize share. We note Street is modeling FY26 sales growth of +1.6% to $55.97B and EPS of $3.36. Net/Net: Shifting to an In Line rating but maintaining our $29 target.”

HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) is a technology company that specializes in personal computing and printing solutions.

While we acknowledge the potential of HPQ as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.