Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced on Thursday that its revenue for Q1 2026 will come in below expectations, due to delays in deliveries of AI-dedicated servers. The group now expects revenue between $9bn and $9.4bn, versus $9.9bn anticipated by analysts according to LSEG. The HPE stock fell over 3% when Wall Street opened, with markets reacting to this signal of slowdown in a segment that remains in strong growth.
Chief Financial Officer Marie Myers said demand for AI servers remained volatile, with some large customers delaying orders to the second half of the year. This situation weighed on its Q4 results (period ended in October): revenues from server sales declined 5% to $4.5bn, affected by both AI delivery delays and a drop in US federal spending. Hybrid cloud activity also posted a notable 12% decline, to $1.41bn.
Total quarterly revenue stood at $9.68bn, below the consensus of $9.94bn. Despite these underperformances, HPE raised its adjusted EPS guidance for FY 2026, now expected to be between $2.25 and $2.45, up from $2.20 to $2.40 previously. The company is banking on a recovery in AI server sales in H2 to offset current delays and support its profitability trajectory.
