This past week, Wall Street delivered a pair of notable analyst moves that are worth paying attention to. Loop Capital upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) from Hold to Buy, raising its price target from $23 to $75 — one of the most aggressive target hikes seen on a major tech name in recent months.
On the same day, Evercore ISI upgraded Guardant Health (NASDAQ: GH) from In-Line to Outperform, setting a new target of $160. Both calls were backed by meaningful fundamental changes in the underlying businesses, not just multiple expansion.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise: The AI Infrastructure Story Most Investors Missed
HPE has long been viewed as a slow-growth legacy hardware company. That narrative is changing fast.
On June 1, 2026, the company reported fiscal second-quarter 2026 results that came in well above expectations. Revenue reached $10.68B, a 40% increase year over year, beating analyst estimates by nearly $900 million. Non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.79 represented a 108% increase and exceeded consensus estimates by $0.26. Free cash flow came in at $915 million for the quarter.
The driver behind the numbers is AI server infrastructure. HPE booked $1.8 billion in new AI systems orders during the quarter, bringing cumulative AI systems bookings to $16.4 billion. Orders overall more than doubled year over year, pushing the company’s backlog to a new record. CEO Antonio Neri described a broad acceleration in demand from enterprises building out AI inferencing capabilities and agentic AI workloads — the kind of private, on-premises AI that does not rely on public cloud infrastructure.
Management raised its full fiscal year 2026 outlook significantly, now guiding for non-GAAP earnings per share of $3.35 to $3.45 and free cash flow of at least $3.5 billion. That represents a guidance increase of over 40%. The company also provided a preliminary framework for fiscal 2027, projecting revenue growth of 8% to 12% and improved operating margins.
Loop Capital’s Ananda Baruah, who made the June 2 upgrade, cited the acceleration in enterprise AI server infrastructure demand as the key catalyst. At a current price of $55.16 and a market cap of $73.0B, HPE trades at a trailing P/E of 51.5x on earnings per share of $1.07. The consensus average analyst price target across 14 tracked ratings stands at $69.00, with the high target reaching $80.00 from Bank of America. The 52-week range of $17.49 to $64.25 illustrates just how dramatically the market has re-rated this stock over the past year.
The risk worth noting: gross margins of 37% reflect the hardware-heavy mix of the business. If AI server pricing softens or supply constraints ease, margin pressure could follow. HPE is not a high-margin software business, and investors should price that in accordingly.
Guardant Health: Liquid Biopsy Finally Getting Its Due
Guardant Health operates in a different corner of the market — cancer diagnostics — but the upgrade thesis is similarly grounded in recent execution.
In the first quarter of 2026, Guardant reported revenue of $301.7M, up 7.3% sequentially from $281.3M in the fourth quarter of 2025. Gross margin held at 65%, reflecting the high-value nature of its diagnostic products. The company is still operating at a net loss — $112.1M in Q1 2026 — but the trajectory of the business is what Evercore ISI is betting on.
The central catalyst is Shield, Guardant’s blood-based colorectal cancer screening test. Shield received FDA approval in July 2024 and Medicare coverage beginning April 1, 2025, with reimbursement set at $1,495 per test under Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory Test status. Management has guided for 27% to 30% revenue growth for full-year 2026. The company also had 38 abstracts accepted for presentation at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting in late May, showcasing the breadth of its liquid biopsy platform.
Evercore’s Vijay Kumar raised his price target on June 2, 2026 from $95 to $160, a 68% increase, citing improving commercial momentum for Shield and the broader liquid biopsy pipeline. The stock currently trades at $127.44 with a market cap of $16.9B. All 11 tracked analysts carry a bullish rating, with an average price target of $141.82 and a high target of $180.00 from Leerink Partners. The 52-week range runs from $40.35 to $133.97.
The key risk: broad private payer reimbursement for Shield is still in progress, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is expected to update its colorectal cancer screening guidelines in 2026. An unfavorable guideline outcome could slow commercial adoption.
The Bottom Line
Both upgrades are supported by real business inflections rather than macro optimism alone. HPE offers a more immediate earnings story with strong visibility into the second half of fiscal 2026. Guardant Health is an earlier-stage growth story hinging on the commercial rollout of a genuinely novel diagnostic product. Investors comfortable with a longer runway may find Guardant the more compelling opportunity at current prices, while those seeking a more established earnings profile may prefer HPE’s risk-adjusted setup.
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