Validea's Leading IT Stocks According to Joel Greenblatt - 8/18/2025
Top Rated IT Stocks: Validea's Earnings Yield Investor model highlights HP Inc., Western Digital Corp., MicroStrategy Inc., Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., and Leidos Holdings Inc. as top-rated stocks based on Joel Greenblatt's investment strategy.
HP Inc. Overview: HP Inc. received a 100% rating, indicating strong interest due to its fundamentals in personal computing and printing solutions across various segments.
Western Digital Corp. Overview: With a 90% rating, Western Digital specializes in data storage devices and solutions, catering to diverse markets including cloud and consumer sectors.
MicroStrategy and Cognizant Ratings: Both MicroStrategy and Cognizant Technology Solutions scored 80%, focusing on software development and technology services, with MicroStrategy notably investing heavily in Bitcoin.
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- Geopolitical Tensions: U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Thursday as tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated, dampening hopes for an imminent peace deal and potentially impacting market sentiment.
- Oil Price Surge: Following fresh U.S. strikes against Iran, oil prices jumped over 2%, exacerbating inflation concerns that could influence the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decisions moving forward.
- Inflation Data Focus: Investors are closely watching the upcoming personal consumption expenditures data, which is the Fed's preferred inflation measure, as it could alter interest rate expectations under new chair Kevin Warsh's leadership.
- Market Performance: Dow futures declined by 53 points, S&P 500 futures fell by 6.75 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped by 63.5 points, reflecting market uncertainty regarding the economic outlook ahead.
- Revenue Growth Highlight: HP Inc reported a 9% year-over-year revenue growth, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of revenue increase, which reflects the company's strong performance in personal systems and consumer markets, boosting market confidence.
- Strong Personal Systems Performance: Personal systems revenue increased by 13% year-over-year, driven by robust demand in both commercial and consumer segments, indicating the success of the company's strategy in high-end products and service expansion.
- Gross Margin Improvement: Gross margin reached 20.9%, up year-over-year, primarily due to favorable pricing strategies and contributions from key growth areas, further solidifying the company's profitability.
- Future Outlook: Free cash flow is expected to range between $2.8 billion and $3 billion, with EPS guidance between $2.90 and $3.10, demonstrating the company's confidence in future performance despite rising input cost pressures.
- Revenue Growth: HP reported a 9% year-over-year revenue increase in Q2, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of growth, primarily driven by strong performance in the Personal Systems segment, indicating the company's ongoing expansion in high-value categories and enhanced market competitiveness.
- Personal Systems Performance: The Personal Systems segment saw a 13% year-over-year revenue growth, with robust performance in both commercial and consumer markets, while the shipment mix of AI PCs increased from 35% to 44%, reflecting the company's proactive positioning in the technological shift.
- Cash Flow and Shareholder Returns: The company generated over $900 million in cash from operations this quarter and returned nearly $400 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, showcasing strong financial health and commitment to shareholder value.
- Future Outlook: Management expects diluted earnings per share for fiscal year 2026 to range between $2.90 and $3.10, maintaining confidence in future profitability despite rising input cost pressures, with Q4 anticipated to be a trough for margins.
- Shareholder Returns: HPQ returned $374 million to shareholders through dividends and buybacks in Q2, demonstrating robust cash flow management and enhancing investor confidence in the company's financial health.
- Earnings Beat: HPQ reported Q2 revenue of $14.41 billion, a 9% year-over-year increase that surpassed estimates of $14.07 billion, with adjusted EPS at $0.86, exceeding the expected $0.72, reflecting strong performance in personal systems and printing segments.
- Future Guidance: Although HPQ revised its fiscal 2026 EPS outlook down to $2.90 to $3.10, it remains above the consensus estimate of $2.89, with projected free cash flow of $2.8 billion to $3.0 billion, indicating confidence in future growth despite market challenges.
- Market Sentiment: On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for HPQ was rated as “extremely bullish,” with message volume rising from “high” to “extremely high,” indicating strong investor optimism about the company's prospects, with the stock gaining nearly 10% year-to-date.
- Salesforce Guidance Adjustment: Salesforce guided for current-quarter revenue between $11.27 billion and $11.35 billion, slightly below analysts' expectations of $11.36 billion, although the company raised its full-year earnings guidance, indicating confidence in future growth.
- Nutanix Strong Earnings: Nutanix reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue beats, with a non-GAAP operating margin of 22.3%, significantly exceeding analysts' call for 16.9%, reflecting the company's robust performance in the cloud computing sector.
- Agilent Raises Earnings Outlook: Agilent Technologies shares surged 11% after raising its full-year adjusted earnings guidance to between $6 and $6.10 per share, higher than previous estimates of $5.90 to $6.04, demonstrating strong demand in the healthcare equipment market.
- Snowflake Soars: Snowflake's stock jumped 33% in after-hours trading after announcing a $6 billion investment plan in Amazon Web Services over five years, alongside first-quarter results that surpassed estimates, showcasing its enhanced market competitiveness.











