Stock market today: S&P 500 drops for fifth day as focus shifts to Powell’s speech
Investing.com -- Morgan Stanley upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) to Overweight from Equal weight and reiterated its positive view on Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), saying both companies are best positioned into July-quarter earnings as enterprise hardware spending trends remain stronger than feared.
The brokerage set a $28 price target on HPE, citing accretion from its Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) acquisition and multiple expansion potential.
For Dell, it lifted its price target to $144 from $136, pointing to upside to fiscal second-quarter estimates, confidence in management’s $15 billion-plus AI server revenue target for fiscal 2026, and the stock’s recent pullback creating a more attractive entry point.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) expects July-quarter results across enterprise hardware makers to be broadly positive, supported by robust spending in AI compute and networking, steady server demand, and a strong PC refresh cycle.
Its checks signaled improving enterprise spending through May and June, with distributors and resellers pointing to stronger-than-expected growth in PCs, servers, and storage.
Pure Storage (NYSE:PSTG) was rated Equal weight with a $60 target. The brokerage cited strong share gains in storage but said the stock’s valuation already reflects optimism, while a potential Meta (NASDAQ:META) deal remains an important catalyst.
NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) which is rated Equal weight with a $115 target faces the weakest storage checks and lacks near-term upside triggers.
Morgan Stanley maintained an Equal weight stance on HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ). with a $26 target, flagging modest July-quarter upside but a more cautious setup for October, where its estimates run 1% to 6% below consensus.
Enterprise hardware growth is expected to decelerate in the second half of 2025, particularly in PCs and general servers, though small and mid-market spending could surprise if interest rate policy turns more supportive.