What Happened?

Shares of personal computing and printing company HP (NYSE:HPQ) jumped 15.6% in the afternoon session after investor optimism grew around the demand for its new AI-powered PCs as traders positioned themselves ahead of its upcoming fiscal Q2 2026 earnings report.

The earnings announcement was scheduled for May 27, and the stock’s surge was also influenced by recent analyst price target adjustments. Options market activity suggested anticipation of a significant price swing around the report, which likely prompted buying.

Adding to the positive sentiment, HP announced a $0.30 quarterly dividend, reinforcing investor confidence in the company’s financial health. The move was part of a broader market rally that also saw competitor Dell Technologies experience a significant stock increase following its own positive analyst revisions.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

HP’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Moves this big are rare for HP and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 12 months ago when the stock dropped 8.2% on the news that the company reported weak first-quarter 2025 results: its EPS and EBITDA missed, and it lowered its full-year EPS guidance, pointing to an uncertain macro backdrop and uneven recovery in printing and consumer tech spending.

On the other hand, HP narrowly topped analysts’ revenue expectations. Still, this was a softer quarter.

HP is up 14.7% since the beginning of the year, but at $25.38 per share, it is still trading 13.5% below its 52-week high of $29.35 from September 2025. Despite the year-to-date gain, investors who bought $1,000 worth of HP’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at only $785.48.

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