HPE vs NTAP Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
HPE and NetApp overlap in enterprise storage but operate from very different strategic positions: HPE is a broad infrastructure vendor for which storage is one segment, while NetApp is a pure-play storage company whose ONTAP platform spans on-premises and cloud. NetApp's cloud storage ARR growth and consistent free cash flow make it a more focused investment for enterprise storage exposure; HPE offers a broader infrastructure bet.
Choosing between HPE and NTAP in the storage context comes down to a focused storage compounder (NetApp) versus a diversified infrastructure provider (HPE) — if storage and hybrid cloud data management is the thesis, NetApp is the cleaner expression; if broader AI infrastructure is the thesis, HPE's compute and HPC exposure adds dimensions NetApp lacks.
HPE holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. HPE leads on both 1-year return (+146.83%) and forward P/E quality (12.81x vs 18.62x for NTAP), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, HPE is growing revenue faster (40.00%), while NTAP maintains the higher operating margin (27.26%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for HPE (+24.92%) than for NTAP (+0.29%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- prefer a diversified enterprise infrastructure company with compute, networking, and storage exposure
- value AI server and HPC revenue as growth drivers beyond storage alone
- want the GreenLake as-a-service model as a path to recurring revenue across the full infrastructure stack
- are comfortable with lower storage-specific margins in exchange for broader AI infrastructure upside
- prefer a pure-play enterprise storage and data management company with a clear hybrid cloud strategy
- value ONTAP's cloud-native services on AWS, Azure, and GCP as high-margin recurring revenue
- want consistent free cash flow returned via buybacks and dividends from a profitable, focused business
- are comfortable with slower growth in a mature on-premises storage market in exchange for cloud attach revenue
| Metric | HPE | NTAP |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 70.8 | 59.8 |
| AI ranki | #38 | #177 |
| Latest closei | $61.04 | $196.92 |
| 1M returni | +9.61% | -3.81% |
| 6M returni | +175.95% | +91.02% |
| 1Y returni | +146.83% | +58.91% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | HPE | NTAP |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $24.18K (+141.8%) started 2025-09-18 | $15.58K (+55.8%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $56.99K (+469.9%) started 2021-09-20 | $26.69K (+166.9%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $78.98K (+689.8%) started 2016-09-19 | $88.75K (+787.5%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | HPE | NTAP |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $69.27B | $36.7B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 48.89 | 29.50 |
| Forward P/Ei | 12.81 | 18.62 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 2.20 | 5.17 |
| Analyst targeti | $65.35 | $187.56 |
| Target upsidei | +24.92% | +0.29% |
| Metric | HPE | NTAP |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 40.00% | 12.50% |
| Earnings growthi | -30.30% | 23.40% |
| EPS growthi | -30.30% | +23.40% |
| FCF margini | +9.89% | +18.70% |
| Operating margini | 8.70% | 27.26% |
| Profit margini | 4.01% | 18.43% |
| ROIC proxyi | 6.31% | 106.73% |
| Return on equityi | 6.31% | 106.73% |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.09% | 1.11% |
| Payout ratioi | 28.74% | 29.38% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.44 | 1.43 |
| Debt/equityi | 84.03 | 202.29 |
| Current ratioi | 1.09 | 1.44 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.57 | 1.21 |
Over the past year, HPE and NTAP have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.61), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | HPE | NTAP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +141.84% | +55.84% |
| CAGRi | +142.02% | +55.90% | |
| Volatilityi | 57.06% | 44.32% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.76 | 1.12 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 2.93 | 1.96 | |
| Max drawdowni | 26.57% | 25.52% | |
| Current drawdowni | 1.69% | 4.91% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.37% | 11.53% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 12.40% | 13.32% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.76% | 9.37% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 17.52% | 12.07% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +410.62% | +142.56% |
| CAGRi | +38.60% | +19.41% | |
| Volatilityi | 41.53% | 34.96% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.89 | 0.55 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.36 | 0.86 | |
| Max drawdowni | 48.36% | 42.61% | |
| Current drawdowni | 1.69% | 4.91% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 11.03% | 15.70% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.06% | 18.87% | |
| Max daily dropi | 15.14% | 15.57% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 20.76% | 23.79% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +495.10% | +591.41% |
| CAGRi | +19.53% | +21.34% | |
| Volatilityi | 38.35% | 35.91% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.54 | 0.59 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.79 | 0.87 | |
| Max drawdowni | 56.87% | 58.08% | |
| Current drawdowni | 1.69% | 4.91% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 14.87% | 16.78% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 19.19% | 21.97% | |
| Max daily dropi | 15.31% | 20.22% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 28.21% | 23.79% |
| Category | HPE | NTAP |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company | NetApp, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Communication Equipment | Software - Infrastructure |
| Core business | HPE provides enterprise servers, storage, networking, and hybrid cloud via its GreenLake platform. Its storage products (Alletra, Primera) compete with NetApp in enterprise all-flash and hybrid storage arrays. HPE's broader portfolio includes AI servers (ProLiant with NVIDIA GPUs), Cray HPC, and Aruba networking, making storage one segment among many rather than a core identity. | NetApp is an enterprise storage and data management company providing all-flash arrays (AFF), hybrid cloud storage (ONTAP), and cloud storage services across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Its ONTAP operating system runs on-premises and natively in public cloud as FSx for NetApp ONTAP (AWS), Azure NetApp Files, and Google Cloud NetApp Volumes, creating a unified storage platform across hybrid environments. NetApp also earns subscription revenue from storage management software and support. |
| Investor focus | Investors track GreenLake ARR growth, server and HPC backlog, and total segment profitability — HPE is not primarily a storage story, so storage performance is one of several data points in a broader infrastructure narrative. | Investors focus on cloud storage services ARR growth (high-margin SaaS-like revenue from hyperscaler-hosted ONTAP), on-premises all-flash array revenue versus flash peers, gross margin expansion as cloud services mix increases, and free cash flow generation relative to the dividend and buyback program. |
- GreenLake storage-as-a-service gives HPE a recurring storage revenue model similar to NetApp's managed services
- Broad enterprise relationships across compute, networking, and storage enable bundled deals that pure-play storage vendors cannot match
- AI server business creates cross-sell opportunities for HPE storage used in AI training and inference data pipelines
- ONTAP cloud services on AWS, Azure, and GCP create high-margin recurring revenue that grows with hyperscaler adoption
- ONTAP's feature richness (snapshots, deduplication, NAS/SAN unification) creates deep customer lock-in
- Strong free cash flow generation supports a generous buyback program and dividend, rewarding shareholders directly
- Storage is not HPE's primary differentiator, and NetApp, Pure Storage, and Dell all compete aggressively in enterprise flash storage
- GreenLake storage attach rates have not been disclosed separately, making progress difficult to measure
- HPE's storage margins have faced pressure from all-flash transition and competitive pricing
- On-premises storage market is mature and competitive, with Pure Storage and HPE Alletra gaining share in all-flash
- Cloud storage revenue growth depends on hyperscaler ONTAP adoption, which competes against native cloud storage services
- AI training storage requirements may favor GPU-accelerated flash vendors with different protocols over ONTAP-based solutions
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