HP Inc. (HPQ) Stock Price & How to Invest

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.

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 debt, 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.

16 analysts publish price targets on HPQ, averaging $22.98 against a $28.45 price as of July 2026, or -19.2%. The published targets run from $18.00 to $29.60, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 2 buy, 10 hold, 5 sell. Over the last six months there have been 10 raises and 2 cuts 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.

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, $29.60, 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, $18.00, 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.

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): ~$54 billion
• Operating margin: ~7%
• Net income (TTM): ~$3 billion
• P/E (TTM): ~11x
• Revenue growth: flat to low single digits
• Dividend yield: ~3.5%
• Free cash flow: ~$3 billion annually, much returned via buybacks

HP trades at a low valuation typical of a mature hardware company in slow-growth markets, reflecting limited revenue growth, thin hardware margins, and secular pressure on PCs and printing. The market values it as a cash-return story: a low multiple, a meaningful dividend yield, and consistent buybacks rather than a growth premium. The valuation embeds skepticism about long-term unit demand.

If you want HPQ exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.

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.

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.

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), 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.

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 acts as a low-multiple value and income holding tied to the PC and printing cycles, valued for capital returns rather than expansion.

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.