CluenexHP Inc. HPQ
HP Inc. scores average on business quality (4.5 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What HP Inc. does
HP sells personal computers and printers to corporate and consumer markets, generating revenue primarily through hardware sales and high-margin supplies like ink. The company is leaning into AI-enabled PCs to stimulate hardware upgrades across its enterprise client base.
- What it does best
HP dominates global corporate PC distribution through entrenched enterprise vendor relationships. It maintains scale despite a thin gross margin of 19.9%, far below peers like SNDK at 71.4% and WDC at 48.9%.
- The main risk
Demand stagnation threatens cash generation if enterprise PC upgrade cycles stall. Revenue growth sits in the bottom quartile at a meager 3.2%, leaving little room for execution errors.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margin sits at 6.6% while FCF margin tracks at 6.6%. Margins are compressed by low gross profitability, meaning scale does not yield rich profit expansion.
Scale and enterprise supply chain dominance lock in corporate buyers, though its gross margin sits in the 6th percentile of the technology sector, showing limited pricing power.
Revenue growth crawled to 3.2% last year, showing stagnation compared to historical peaks above $63B in 2021. The core engine is barely moving forward.
Interest coverage stands at 9.9x while free cash flow reached $3.9B, supported by $3.7B in cash. The balance sheet is getting softer as net debt hovers around $6.0B.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Our sealed record on HPQ
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
HP Inc. scores average on the Cluenex quality check (4.5 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat fair, growth slow and financial health strong.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Nov 23, 2026, after the close.
See HPQ today
- Today's verdict on HPQ, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “HP Inc. (HPQ)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/hpq/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.