HPQ vs HPE: HP Inc vs HP Enterprise Stock Comparison 2026: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
HP Inc. is a PC and printing hardware company with reliable FCF from printing supplies, while HP Enterprise is a hybrid cloud and AI server infrastructure company transitioning to GreenLake as-a-service. Both are legacy IT hardware companies with different growth profiles: HP Inc. has more stable FCF; HP Enterprise has AI server growth but more competitive exposure.
HPQ vs HPE is printing supplies FCF machine with PC refresh upside versus AI server and hybrid cloud infrastructure growth — HP Inc. wins if AI PC features drive commercial refresh cycles; HP Enterprise wins if GreenLake ARR compounds and AI server demand sustains through enterprise GenAI buildout.
HPE holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. HPE has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+134.15% vs +7.83%), though HPQ has the better forward P/E setup (9.62x vs 12.81x for HPE). HPE leads on both revenue growth (40.00%) and operating margin (8.70%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for HPE (+24.92%) than for HPQ (-1.77%).
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.
- value HP Inc.'s printing supplies recurring revenue as a reliable FCF driver
- want commercial PC exposure to the AI PC refresh cycle without cloud or server execution risk
- prefer a dividend-paying IT hardware business with capital return through buybacks
- are comfortable with secular print volume decline managed through supplies pricing and commercial focus
- want AI server and hybrid cloud infrastructure exposure through ProLiant AI servers and GreenLake
- value GreenLake's as-a-service model as a recurring revenue pivot from traditional server hardware cycles
- prefer Aruba networking as a high-margin enterprise connectivity growth segment
- believe enterprise AI infrastructure buildout sustains HPE's AI server revenue through GenAI adoption
| Metric | HPQ | HPE |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 48.9 | 61.7 |
| AI ranki | #521 | #67 |
| Latest closei | $30.85 | $58.63 |
| 1M returni | -8.78% | +4.92% |
| 3M returni | +27.80% | +29.91% |
| 6M returni | +56.44% | +126.46% |
| 1Y returni | +7.83% | +134.15% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | HPQ | HPE |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $11.34K (+13.4%) started 2025-10-16 | $26.06K (+160.6%) started 2025-10-16 |
| 5Y ago | $13.74K (+37.4%) started 2021-10-18 | $48.11K (+381.1%) started 2021-10-18 |
| 10Y ago | $39.05K (+290.5%) started 2016-10-17 | $80.44K (+704.4%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | HPQ | HPE |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $27.23B | $69.27B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 11.53 | 48.89 |
| Forward P/Ei | 9.62 | 12.81 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 0.56 | 2.20 |
| Analyst targeti | $29.66 | $65.35 |
| Target upsidei | -1.77% | +24.92% |
| Metric | HPQ | HPE |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 12.50% | 40.00% |
| Earnings growthi | -11.30% | -30.30% |
| EPS growthi | -11.30% | -30.30% |
| FCF margini | +5.73% | +9.89% |
| Operating margini | 5.40% | 8.70% |
| Profit margini | 4.14% | 4.01% |
| ROIC proxyi | N/A | 6.31% |
| Return on equityi | N/A | 6.31% |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.97% | 1.09% |
| Payout ratioi | 45.40% | 28.74% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.19 | 1.44 |
| Debt/equityi | N/A | 84.03 |
| Current ratioi | 0.79 | 1.09 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.44 | 0.57 |
Over the past year, HPQ and HPE have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.34), 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 | HPQ | HPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +13.42% | +160.58% |
| CAGRi | +13.45% | +161.06% | |
| Volatilityi | 45.13% | 57.55% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.40 | 1.88 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.65 | 3.17 | |
| Max drawdowni | 35.37% | 26.57% | |
| Current drawdowni | 13.05% | 20.19% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 17.95% | 8.30% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 21.11% | 10.65% | |
| Max daily dropi | 6.99% | 10.76% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 13.50% | 20.19% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +21.31% | +331.06% |
| CAGRi | +3.94% | +33.98% | |
| Volatilityi | 37.25% | 42.04% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.17 | 0.80 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.25 | 1.22 | |
| Max drawdowni | 52.83% | 48.36% | |
| Current drawdowni | 20.04% | 20.19% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 22.73% | 11.08% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 26.29% | 14.09% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.71% | 15.14% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 21.27% | 20.76% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +187.58% | +508.02% |
| CAGRi | +11.15% | +19.79% | |
| Volatilityi | 35.97% | 38.66% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.35 | 0.55 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.49 | 0.79 | |
| Max drawdowni | 52.83% | 56.87% | |
| Current drawdowni | 20.04% | 20.19% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 18.11% | 14.85% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 22.36% | 19.20% | |
| Max daily dropi | 17.27% | 15.31% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 32.28% | 28.21% |
| Category | HPQ | HPE |
|---|---|---|
| Company | HP Inc. | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Computer Hardware | Communication Equipment |
| Core business | PC and printing hardware company. HP Inc. sells consumer and commercial PCs, workstations, printers, and printing supplies. HP Inc. was formed when Hewlett-Packard split in 2015, retaining the original PC and printing businesses. | Hybrid cloud and AI infrastructure company with compute (ProLiant servers), hybrid cloud software (GreenLake), networking (Aruba), high-performance computing, and AI servers (ProLiant for AI). HPE competes with Dell, Supermicro, and Lenovo in enterprise IT infrastructure. |
| Investor focus | PC market cycle recovery, commercial PC refresh driven by AI PC features, print hardware and supplies revenue, and free cash flow generation. | GreenLake as-a-service ARR growth, AI server demand (Nvidia GPU servers), Aruba networking, and operating margin improvement. |
- HP Inc. generates significant free cash flow from its printing supplies (ink, toner) consumable business — a reliable recurring revenue stream
- Commercial PC refresh cycle from AI PC features (NPU-equipped Windows 11 PCs) provides incremental upgrade demand
- HP maintains strong market share in commercial printing with a loyal corporate customer base
- GreenLake is HPE's as-a-service hybrid cloud platform — providing subscription revenue that makes HPE's model less cyclical than traditional server sales
- AI server demand is accelerating as enterprises and cloud providers invest in GPU compute infrastructure
- Aruba networking is a growing high-margin business in enterprise WiFi and campus networking
- PC market is in structural slow growth — refresh cycles have lengthened and the consumer PC market has matured significantly
- Printer page volume is declining as paperless digital workflows reduce enterprise printing demand
- Competition from Lenovo, Dell, and Apple in the commercial PC market creates pricing pressure
- AI server competition from Dell, Supermicro, and ODM manufacturers is intense — margins on GPU servers can be thin
- GreenLake growth requires customers to commit to multi-year as-a-service agreements which can be slow to close
- Traditional server hardware market is highly competitive and commoditizing as cloud displaces on-premise compute
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