HP Inc. (HPQ) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated October 2026
Short answer
You can invest in HP Inc. (HPQ) by buying shares or fractional shares at any major broker, through an ETF that holds it, or as one holding in a thematic basket. HPQ is a mature technology-hardware company, not a growth name: a top-two global PC vendor whose printing supplies business (ink, toner, Instant Ink) is the real profit engine. It competes with Lenovo, Dell, and Apple in PCs and Canon, Epson, and Brother in printing, and behaves like a cash-return, value-and-dividend stock funded by buybacks. As of October 16, 2026 the stock closed near $30, up about 37% year to date, with a market cap around $27 billion and a dividend yield near 3.9%.
HPQ stock price
As of 2026-10-29, HP Inc. (HPQ) last closed at $31.83, up 15.7% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $18.20 and $35.48.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or HP Inc.'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does HP Inc. (HPQ) do?
HP Inc. is one of the world's largest makers of personal computers and printers. It sells laptops, desktops, and workstations to consumers, businesses, and governments, and a wide range of printers along with the ink, toner, and supplies they consume. HP was created when the original Hewlett-Packard split in 2015 into HP Inc. (PCs and printing) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (servers and enterprise IT). HP makes money from hardware sales plus the recurring, higher-margin printing supplies business, which is a key profit engine. It has been expanding into peripherals, gaming, hybrid-work accessories, and services, and pushing subscription and contractual printing models to make revenue more recurring. The company is highly cash generative and returns substantial capital to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, HP is a mature, broadly held technology hardware company sensitive to the global PC and printing cycles.
Fiscal 2026 has been better than the long-run story suggests. Trailing twelve-month revenue reached about $59.2 billion, up from about $55.3 billion in fiscal 2025, and the quarter ended July 31, 2026 brought revenue of about $15.7 billion, up roughly 12.5% from a year earlier, with EPS of $0.83 beating the $0.69 consensus. That was HP's fourth straight EPS beat. Margins stayed thin, though: operating margin was about 5% and trailing net income about $2.45 billion, slightly below fiscal 2025's $2.53 billion, and analysts expect EPS to dip from about $3.24 in fiscal 2026 to about $3.15 in fiscal 2027.
What's driving HP Inc. (HPQ)?
1. Printing supplies profit engine.
HP's printing business, especially the recurring sale of ink, toner, and supplies, is its most profitable area and a steady cash generator. By tying printers to ongoing supplies revenue and pushing subscription models like Instant Ink and contractual managed print services, HP converts hardware sales into recurring streams. This installed-base annuity helps fund dividends and buybacks even when hardware demand is soft.
2. PC refresh and AI PCs.
HP is a top-two global PC vendor, so it benefits from PC replacement cycles. An aging installed base, the Windows refresh cycle, and the emergence of AI PCs with on-device AI capabilities could spur an upgrade wave. HP also targets higher-value categories like premium notebooks, gaming, and workstations, which carry better margins than entry-level commodity PCs. The refresh showed up in fiscal 2026 results, with July-quarter revenue up about 12.5% year over year to about $15.7 billion.
3. Capital returns and cost discipline.
HP generates strong free cash flow and returns most of it to shareholders via a solid dividend and aggressive share buybacks, steadily shrinking its share count. Management runs the business with cost discipline and restructuring programs to protect margins. Trailing free cash flow was about $3.4 billion as of mid-2026, and the dividend is $1.20 a share a year, a yield near 3.9% at the October 2026 price. For investors, the combination of cash returns and a modest valuation is a core part of the story.
What are the risks to HP Inc. (HPQ)?
HP operates in mature, low-growth markets where PCs and printing are subject to long-term secular pressures, including the shift to digital and reduced office printing. Both businesses are cyclical and sensitive to consumer and enterprise spending, and the PC market has seen demand swings. Competition is intense and often price-driven, pressuring margins. Third-party and refill ink erode the supplies annuity, and regulatory or consumer pushback on practices that lock customers to HP supplies is a risk. The company carries about $10.3 billion of debt against about $4.2 billion of cash, and currency and component cost swings affect results. Growth is hard to come by, so the story leans heavily on cash returns rather than expansion. Analysts expect the October-quarter EPS to fall about 20% from a year earlier and fiscal 2027 EPS to slip slightly, and enterprise hardware sentiment soured in October 2026 when Barclays downgraded HPE, Dell and NetApp on slower enterprise AI spending.
What is the HP Inc. (HPQ) forecast?
17 analysts publish price targets on HPQ, averaging $27.31 against a $30.01 price as of October 2026, or -9.0%. The published targets run from $19.00 to $33.80, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 2 buy, 11 hold, 5 sell. Over the last six months there have been 10 raises and 1 cut among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.
Read the full HPQ forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.
Is HPQ a buy or a sell?
We give no verdict on HP Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.
The case for buying. Printing supplies profit engine. HP's printing business, especially the recurring sale of ink, toner, and supplies, is its most profitable area and a steady cash generator. The most optimistic published target, $33.80, assumes this works close to its best case.
The case against. HP operates in mature, low-growth markets where PCs and printing are subject to long-term secular pressures, including the shift to digital and reduced office printing. The most pessimistic target, $19.00, is roughly what HPQ is worth if this bites instead.
Read the full bull and bear case on HPQ, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
Has HP Inc. (HPQ) split its stock?
No. HP Inc. (HPQ) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.
How is HP Inc. (HPQ) valued? (approximate, October 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see HP Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (TTM): ~$59 billion
- Revenue growth (July 2026 quarter, year over year): ~12.5%
- Operating margin: ~5%
- Net income (TTM): ~$2.5 billion
- P/E (trailing / forward): ~11.5x / ~9.6x
- Dividend yield: ~3.9% ($1.20 a share)
- Free cash flow (TTM): ~$3.4 billion
- Market cap: ~$27 billion
At about $30 on October 16, 2026, HP traded near 11.5x trailing and under 10x forward earnings, about 0.5x sales, with a dividend yield near 3.9%. The 37% gain in 2026 has lifted the price above analysts' mean target of about $27 (consensus Hold), so the market is already crediting the PC refresh while still applying the low multiple of a mature hardware company with thin margins.
Which ETFs hold HP Inc. (HPQ)?
What themes does HP Inc. (HPQ) fit?
These are the investment theses HPQ naturally fits into. Each links to a full theme guide listing every other stock that belongs and the ETFs commonly used as a passive proxy.
Who competes with HP Inc. (HPQ)?
What stocks are similar to HP Inc. (HPQ)?
Other names that sit close to HPQ: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.
How to invest in HP Inc. (HPQ)
There are three common ways to get HPQ exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (DVY, SPYD), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so HPQ sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where HPQ fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on HP Inc. (HPQ)
HP Inc. (HPQ) is a slow-growth hardware franchise where the recurring printing-supplies annuity, not PC units, funds a meaningful dividend and steady buybacks. In a portfolio it behaves like a low-multiple value and income holding tied to the PC and printing cycles, valued for capital returns rather than expansion. Revenue has picked up in fiscal 2026 (about $59 billion over the trailing twelve months, up about 12.5% in the July quarter), but analysts' mean price target of about $27 sat below the October 2026 share price, so the rally has run ahead of most forecasts.
More on HP Inc. (HPQ)
Whether HPQ is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is HPQ a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the HPQ stock forecast.
For income investors, whether HPQ pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does HPQ pay a dividend? And to weigh HPQ against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: HPQ vs DDD and HPQ vs SSYS.
Wondering how HPQ fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in HP Inc. with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how HPQ fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is HPQ's ticker symbol?
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HPQ, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company is HP Inc., the PC and printing business that split from Hewlett-Packard in 2015. It is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and trades during US market hours at every major US brokerage.
What does HP Inc. do?
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HP Inc. makes personal computers (laptops, desktops, workstations) and printers, and sells the ink, toner, and supplies that printers consume. It serves consumers, businesses, and governments, and is expanding in peripherals, gaming, and subscription printing. The recurring supplies business is its main profit engine.
What is the difference between HPQ and HPE?
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HPQ is HP Inc., the PCs and printing company, while HPE is Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the servers, storage, networking, and enterprise IT company. They were created by the 2015 split of the original Hewlett-Packard into two separate public companies with different focuses.
Who are HP's main competitors?
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In PCs: Lenovo, Dell, Apple, Acer, and Asus. In printing: Canon, Epson, Brother, Xerox, and Lexmark, plus third-party ink and toner suppliers that compete on price for the supplies that drive HP's profits.
Is HPQ a good dividend stock?
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Descriptive: HP pays a dividend of $1.20 a share a year, yielding roughly 3.9% as of October 2026 with a payout ratio near 45%, and returns substantial cash through buybacks, which makes it common in income and value strategies. The trade-off is limited revenue growth in mature markets. Whether it suits an income portfolio depends on your goals. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What is HP's P/E ratio?
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Approximately 11.5x trailing twelve months and about 9.6x forward earnings as of October 2026, a low multiple typical of a mature hardware company. It reflects slow long-run growth, thin hardware margins (operating margin near 5%), and secular pressure on PCs and printing, offset by strong cash generation and capital returns.
Why is HP stock so cheap?
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HP trades at a low valuation because it operates in mature, low-growth PC and printing markets facing secular decline in office printing and intense, price-driven competition. The market prices it as a cash-return story rather than a growth stock, so the multiple stays low while the dividend yield and buybacks are emphasized. Even after a 37% gain in 2026, it traded at about 0.5x sales and under 10x forward earnings in October.
Which ETFs have the most HP exposure?
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Broad funds like VOO, VTI, and SPY hold HPQ, and value and dividend ETFs often carry it given its low valuation and yield. Technology hardware ETFs include it as well. Exact weights vary by fund and over time.
Is HP in the S&P 500?
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Yes. HP Inc. is a member of the S&P 500 and is held across passive index funds tracking the benchmark, as well as in value and dividend strategies.
Which thematic baskets typically include HP?
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Value and dividend baskets and technology-hardware baskets on Walnut. HPQ fits a theme around cash-generative, capital-returning mature tech, and is sometimes included for exposure to PC refresh cycles, including the AI PC upgrade narrative.
What is HP's market cap?
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About $27 billion as of October 16, 2026, with the stock near $30. That is modest relative to roughly $59 billion of annual revenue because the market assigns a low multiple to its slow-growth businesses. Aggressive buybacks have steadily reduced the share count over time.
Is HP a good stock to buy?
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Descriptive, not a recommendation. HP is a cash-generative, capital-returning hardware company with a solid dividend and a low valuation, but it faces mature, slow-growth markets and secular pressure on PCs and printing. Whether it fits a portfolio depends on your goals, risk tolerance, and views on hardware demand and capital returns. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
How did HP do in its latest quarter?
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In the quarter ended July 31, 2026 (fiscal Q3), HP reported revenue of about $15.7 billion, up roughly 12.5% year over year, and net income of about $661 million. EPS of $0.83 beat the $0.69 consensus, its fourth straight beat. For the October quarter analysts expect EPS of about $0.75 on revenue of about $15.3 billion, with the report expected around November 24, 2026.
How has HPQ stock performed in 2026?
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As of October 16, 2026, HPQ closed near $30, up about 37% year to date and about 11% over one year, though down about 12% over the past month as hardware stocks sold off. Its 52-week range was about $17.56 to $36.23, and analysts' mean target of about $27 sat below the share price.
Guides that feature HPQ
HPQ is one of the names covered in these guides. Each one puts the stock next to its peers so you can see where it fits rather than judging it alone.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with HP Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.