Key Highlights

  • HPE closed at an all-time high on Friday, finishing among the top two S&P 500 gainers behind only Teradyne, after touching a fresh 52-week peak of $69.77 intraday.
  • The company raised its fiscal 2027 networking Revenue growth forecast and booked a $1.2 billion order from cloud provider Vultr for AI server racks built on AMD processors and linked by Juniper switches.
  • Citigroup raised its price target to $92 from $76 with a Buy rating, and Daiwa Securities upgraded HPE to Outperform from Neutral with a $75 target.
  • The broader market rallied after a weak September jobs report cut odds of another Federal Reserve hike, with the S&P 500 up 56.27 points to 7,722.72 and the Nasdaq-100 closing at a record 30,807.93.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) had one of the best days of any large American company on Friday, closing at an all-time high as a stack of good news on AI networking met a market suddenly less afraid of the Fed. Shares surged to finish among the top two gainers in the S&P 500, behind only Teradyne, touching a fresh 52-week peak of $69.77 during the session. The company, which sells servers, storage and networking gear to businesses and cloud providers, came into the day with three pieces of good news stacked on top of each other.

Three Reasons Buyers Piled In

First, HPE lifted its outlook for networking. The company raised its fiscal 2027 networking revenue growth forecast above the range it had given before. Networking has become a bigger part of the HPE story since it bought Juniper Networks, and switches that move data between AI chips are in heavy demand.

Second, the company booked a $1.2 billion order from cloud provider Vultr, announced on September 30. Vultr is buying AI server racks built on AMD processors and linked by Juniper switches. A single order of that size gives investors a concrete example of AI spending flowing to HPE rather than only to chip designers.

Third, Wall Street turned more positive. Citigroup raised its price target to $92 from $76 and kept a Buy rating. Separately, Daiwa Securities upgraded HPE to Outperform from Neutral with a $75 target.

Reports of the size of the gain varied through the day, with some outlets showing a bigger jump in the afternoon than the final closing tally. Either way, it was a standout move for a stock long seen as a slow-and-steady hardware name.

The Macro Tailwind

The timing helped. September payrolls came in at just 29,000 against expectations of roughly 84,000, and the July and August figures were revised lower by a combined 60,000. Traders slashed bets that the Federal Reserve, which raised rates on September 16, would hike again at its October 27-28 meeting.

That set off a broad rush into technology and AI hardware. Dell, Super Micro Computer and NetApp all climbed. Nvidia hit a record high during the session, and the Nasdaq-100 set a record close of 30,807.93. The S&P 500 rose 56.27 points to 7,722.72, and the Dow added 250.40 points to 51,176.96.

Commentary linked Dell's gain to its record AI-server backlog, underlining how investors were treating hardware makers as a group. HPE's own catalysts, though, gave it an edge over its peers.

The Caveats

The rally was not without friction. Treasury yields dipped after the jobs report but reversed to close higher, with the 10-year near its highest level since 2002. Oil remained elevated, with Brent settling at $102.25, even after G7 nations agreed to release 100 million barrels of crude and diesel from emergency reserves. Market Breadth was thin, with most S&P 500 stocks still below their 50-day moving averages.

For HPE, the question now is whether orders like Vultr's become a steady stream rather than a one-off headline.

Watching Whether the Orders Keep Coming

The Fed's October 27-28 decision is the next macro hurdle for richly valued tech stocks. Before then, third-quarter Earnings season begins, with PepsiCo reporting on October 8, Delta on October 9 and the major banks on October 13 and 14. Analysts expect strong double-digit earnings growth for the S&P 500 this quarter.

Investors will also watch for further AI infrastructure deals and for any follow-up from analysts after Citi's and Daiwa's moves. AMD's role in the Vultr racks means news from AMD may also ripple through HPE's shares.