HP Enterprise, Juniper weakness tied to Capital Forum DOJ report, says Evercore

Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani notes that both HP Enterprise (HPE) and Juniper (JNPR) shares are under pressure following alleged reports from Capital Forum that the DOJ could seek to block the pending acquisition of Juniper. HP Enterprise management, which has been “engaged” with the DOJ in their review of the deal, noted during the company’s most recent earnings call that the company expects the pending acquisition to close in the “early part” of calendar year 2025, which was in the later part of the management’s original expectations, the analyst points out. While investor focus in the near-term will index around if HP Enterprise can get DOJ approval for its acquisition of Juniper, beyond that Evercore views the company as “fundamentally well positioned” to benefit from share gains in AI servers, a sustained gradual recovery in x86 servers, as well as self-help in its storage business, notes the firm, which has an In Line rating and $22 price target on HP Enterprise shares.