HP Inc. HPQ reported second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings of 86 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 19.4%. The company reported earnings of 71 cents per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
HP’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, while matching the same on one occasion and missing once, the average surprise being 8.6%.
HPQ posted revenues of $14.4 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, which increased 9% year over year and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.5%.This compares with $13.2 billion of revenues reported in the year-ago quarter.
HP Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
HP Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | HP Inc. Quote
HPQ’s Q2 Results in Detail
Personal Systems (PS) revenues (71% of net revenues) came in at $10.2 billion, up 13% year over year (10% in constant currency).
HP’s total PC units declined 7%, with Consumer PS shipments and Commercial PS shipments down 8% and 7%, respectively. On the revenue side, Consumer PS grew 10%, while Commercial PS rose 14%.
The Printing business (29% of net revenues) generated $4.2 billion, flat year over year (down 2% in constant currency). Consumer Printing revenues fell 10%, Commercial Printing revenues remained flat, and Supplies revenues increased 1% (remained flat in CC). Total hardware units were down 7%, with both Consumer and Commercial units declining 8% and 4%, respectively.
By geography, HP posted revenue growth in all regions. On a constant currency basis, the Americas rose 0.2%, EMEA was up 6.1%, and Asia Pacific & Japan grew 17.9% year over year.
HPQ posted a non-GAAP operating margin of 7.5%, up 20 basis points year over year.
Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
HP ended the fiscal second quarter with $3.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, up from the previous quarter’s $3.15 billion.
During the quarter, HP generated $926 million of cash from operating activities and delivered $780 billion in free cash flow. During the quarter, the company returned $374 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.
HPQ’s Guidance for Q3 and FY26
For fiscal 2026, HPQ expects its non-GAAP earnings to be in the range of $2.90-$3.10 per share compared with the prior range of $2.90 to $3.20. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HPQ’s fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $2.85, indicating a year-over-year decline of 8.7%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HPQ’s fiscal 2026 revenues is pegged at $57.22 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 3.5%.
For the third quarter of fiscal 2026, HPQ expects non-GAAP earnings in the range of 61-71 cents per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HPQ’s third-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at 63 cents per share, indicating a year-over-year decrease of 16%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HPQ’s third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues is pegged at $14.07 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 0.97%.
Zacks Rank
HPQ currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Other Stocks to Consider
Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Computer and Technology sector are Applied Materials AMAT, Celestica CLS and Amphenol APH, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Shares of Applied Materials have rallied 74.4% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Applied Materials’ fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $12.02 per share, up by 8.3% over the past 30 days, indicating a year-over-year surge of 27.6%.
Shares of Celestica have gained 21% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Celestica’s 2026 earnings is pegged at $10.16 per share, up 15.1% over the past 30 days, indicating a year-over-year jump of 67.9%.
Amphenol shares have jumped 3.8% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for APH’s 2026 earnings is pegged at $4.76 per share, up 11.4% over the past 30 days, indicating a year-over-year increase of 42.5%.
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HP Inc. (HPQ): Free Stock Analysis Report
Amphenol Corporation (APH): Free Stock Analysis Report
Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Celestica, Inc. (CLS): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).