HP’s Financial Struggles and Tariff Impacts Lead to Sell Rating

HP (HPQ – Research Report), the Technology sector company, was revisited by a Wall Street analyst yesterday. Analyst Aaron Rakers from Wells Fargo maintained a Sell rating on the stock and has a $25.00 price target.

Aaron Rakers has given his Sell rating due to a combination of factors impacting HP’s performance. The company’s recent financial results for the second quarter of 2025 were weaker than anticipated, with a significant impact from tariffs affecting the Personal Systems Group’s operating margins. This has led to a downward revision of the full-year 2025 guidance, reflecting ongoing challenges in the PC market and questions surrounding the potential uplift from AI PC average selling prices.
Additionally, HP’s guidance for the third quarter of 2025 suggests earnings per share will fall short of market expectations, further pressured by tariff impacts. The company’s printing segment, while showing some growth in consumer hardware units, also faced revenue declines. These factors, combined with the adjusted forecasts for revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share for the coming years, underpin Rakers’s decision to maintain a cautious outlook on HP’s stock performance.

Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 35 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders selling their shares of HPQ in relation to earlier this year.