Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals

Diskover Data announced a new collaboration with NetApp that extends the Diskover Platform's governed visibility and control to ONTAP and StorageGRID environments in media and entertainment, semiconductor design, and other file-intensive sectors. Under the collaboration, customers will be able to purchase Diskover Platform through NetApp beginning in November 2026, with the platform available now for NetApp ONTAP and StorageGRID environments. Diskover's DataDiscovery uses specialized scanners to index metadata in place across ONTAP and StorageGRID, capturing ownership, permissions, age, cost, and project context in a searchable, governed catalog. Diskover says customers typically reclaim 10 to 30 percent of their footprint, exceeding three million dollars in larger environments, with return on investment inside 30 to 60 days. Will Hall, Chief Executive Officer of Diskover Data, said the collaboration gives NetApp customers a governed, searchable view of the data behind their projects, while Sandeep Singh, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Platform at NetApp, said Diskover extends the NetApp ecosystem with specialized discovery for customers with file-intensive workloads.

Apple has begun rolling out its redesigned Siri AI Beta, a centerpiece of the company's AI strategy under new CEO John Ternus, as it seeks to restore credibility in artificial intelligence after past delays to the Siri overhaul. The company reported $109.4 billion in revenue for its third quarter of fiscal 2026, up 16.4% from Q3 FY25, with diluted earnings per share rising roughly 29% to $2.02 and operating cash flows of $34.4 billion. Apple is also moving into enterprise servers powered by its planned M8 Ultra processors, which have not yet been released and carry a 2029 launch target with designs featuring either two or four M8 Ultra chips. The Siri AI Beta's initial geographic availability remains limited by regulatory hurdles in China and the European Union, where the beta is not accessible to users, and Apple continues to face App Store and digital markets legislation challenges that could reshape its services business. The stock has gained 29.51% over the past 52 weeks versus the S&P 500's 13.93%, giving Apple a $4.92 trillion market capitalization, while hedge fund ownership slipped marginally to 169 funds in the latest quarter from 170, with short interest below 1% and BlackRock the largest institutional stakeholder at 1.16 billion shares, or 7.97% ownership.

Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand) Public Company Limited, or CCET, has announced a five-year business strategy, building on its EMS business toward higher-value technology products. Managing Director Khongsin Chokvicharoen said the company will expand into new businesses in AI servers, CSP, LVDC and HVDC, alongside developing automation and AI to elevate itself into a smart factory. This year the company is accelerating the setup of an AI server production line, which is expected to begin operations before the end of the third quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, CSP-related products are in the process of setting up production lines and are preparing to start manufacturing in Thailand within the second half of 2026. On the high-end power supply side, the company has already begun producing electric vehicle chargers, while CRPS and LVDC products are in trial production and are expected to begin commercial production in the second half of this year. HVDC, developed jointly with affiliated companies, is targeted to start production within 2027. For its long-term plans, the company has a quantum computing project, having already developed and produced a working prototype, and is conducting joint research with ITRI in Taiwan as well as leading universities in Taiwan. It also has an LEO satellite project through a long-term partnership with a leading satellite service provider from Taiwan, which is currently in the development and business model study stage.

Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand) Public Company Limited, or CCET, has announced a five-year long-term strategic plan focused on developing higher-value technology products and businesses, while moving into new areas including AI servers, CSP, LVDC and HVDC, alongside the development of automation and AI to upgrade its manufacturing processes toward a Smart Factory. Managing Director Khongsit Choukitcharoen said the company has a Quantum Computing project as one of its emerging-technology collaboration projects that will strengthen its AI server capabilities. It has already developed a working prototype and is conducting joint research and development with ITRI in Taiwan as well as leading universities in Taiwan. It also has an LEO Satellite project, carried out through a long-term collaboration with a leading satellite services company from Taiwan, which is currently in the development and business-model study stage. On the short-term plan, the company is accelerating the setup of an AI server production line, expected to begin operations before the end of the third quarter of 2026, while CSP-related products are in the process of setting up production lines and preparing to start manufacturing in Thailand in the second half of 2026. As for high-end power supply products, electric vehicle chargers have already begun production, while CRPS and LVDC products are in trial production and are expected to begin commercial production in the second half of this year. HVDC, developed jointly with an affiliate, is targeted to start production within 2027. CCET is also continuing to expand its automation know-how to external customers through its wholly owned subsidiary Cal-Comp Automation & Industrial 4.0 Service Co., Ltd., or CCAU, in Thailand, aiming to expand the business into Southeast Asian markets, the United States and Brazil. Meanwhile, the EMS business remains the core and a key revenue source, especially the storage group, which includes SSDs that continue to grow, as well as printers and smart wearables. Its smart collar for cattle is the world's first smart wearable for cows and has already succeeded in the New Zealand and Australian markets, with plans to expand to Brazil and other countries with large cattle herds. The company is also moving into educational gaming devices and CoBots, or robots that work alongside humans, targeting use in hospitals, restaurants and banks. All of these products are in the production planning stage.

Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand), or CCET, has disclosed a five-year strategic plan to press ahead with strengthening its EMS business while extending into higher-value technology products and businesses. Kongsith Chowkitcharoen said the company will expand into new businesses in AI Server, CSP, LVDC and HVDC, pursue New Business Technology, and upgrade production toward Smart Factory in the near term. The company is rushing to set up an AI Server production line, which is expected to begin operations before the end of the third quarter of 2026, while its CSP products are in the process of setting up a production line and preparing to start manufacturing in Thailand within the second half of 2026. On high-end power supplies, the company has already begun producing electric vehicle chargers, while CRPS and LVDC products are in trial production and are expected to enter commercial production in the second half of this year. HVDC, developed jointly with an affiliated company, is targeted to start production within 2027. Under the five-year long-term plan, CCET has a Quantum Computing project, for which it has already developed and produced a working prototype and is conducting joint research and development with ITRI in Taiwan as well as leading universities in Taiwan. It also has an LEO Satellite project carried out through a long-term collaboration with a leading satellite company from Taiwan, currently in the development and business-model study stage. The company is also developing new products such as a smart collar for cows, the world's first smart wearable for cattle, which has already succeeded in the New Zealand and Australian markets, as well as educational gaming devices and a CoBot that are in the production planning stage.

Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand) Public Company Limited, or CCET, has unveiled a five-year business strategy that maintains the strength of its EMS business while extending into higher-value technology products and businesses to support the transition to a digital economy. Under the short-term plan, the company is accelerating the setup of an AI Server production line and expects operations to begin before the end of the third quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, products related to CSP, or Cloud Supply Provider, are in the process of having production lines established and are preparing to start production in Thailand in the second half of 2026. On high-end power supply products, the company has already begun producing electric vehicle chargers, while CRPS and LVDC are in trial production and are expected to enter commercial production in the second half of this year. At the same time, the company has partnered with affiliated companies to develop HVDC, or High Voltage Direct Current, technology, with the goal of starting production within 2027. For the long-term plan, the company is preparing to develop a Quantum Computing project, currently under research and development together with the Industrial Technology Research Institute, or ITRI, and leading universities in Taiwan, as well as an LEO Satellite project being carried out through a long-term partnership with a leading satellite services company from Taiwan. The company has also developed the CCLM platform for integrating data and AI technology, and is expanding its expertise in automation systems through Cal-Comp Automation & Industrial 4.0 Service Co., Ltd., or CCAU, a wholly owned subsidiary in which CCET holds 100%, with the goal of expanding markets into Southeast Asia, the United States and Brazil.

Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand), or CCET, has unveiled a five-year business strategy aimed at building on its EMS business to move into higher-value technology products and businesses. Executive Kongsith Chokvijitcharoen said the company will expand into new businesses in AI Server, CSP, LVDC and HVDC, while pushing into New Business Technology alongside the development of Automation and AI to elevate itself into a Smart Factory. Under the short-term plan, the company is accelerating the setup of an AI Server production line, which is expected to begin operations before the end of the third quarter of 2026, while its CSP products are in the process of setting up production lines and preparing to start manufacturing in Thailand in the second half of 2026. On high-end power supply products, the company has already begun producing electric vehicle chargers, while CRPS and LVDC are in trial production and are expected to begin commercial production in the second half of this year. HVDC, developed jointly with affiliated companies, is targeted to start production within 2027. Under the long-term five-year plan, the company has a Quantum Computing project, for which it has already developed a working prototype and is conducting joint research with ITRI in Taiwan as well as leading universities in Taiwan. It also has an LEO Satellite project being carried out through a long-term partnership with a leading satellite service provider from Taiwan. CCET currently also has a new product, a smart collar for cows, the world's first smart wearable for cattle, which has already succeeded in the New Zealand and Australian markets, with plans to expand into Brazil. Meanwhile, its subsidiary CCAU, wholly owned by CCET, aims to expand its automation systems business into the Southeast Asian, United States and Brazilian markets.

ASUS announced that the ASUS Googlebook 14 (CX9406CAA) is now available for purchase in Canada, its first-ever laptop designed for Gemini Intelligence. The 14-inch ultraportable, weighing 0.99kg and measuring as thin as 10.9mm, is offered in an Intel Core Ultra 5 configuration with an MSRP of C$1,799 and an Intel Core Ultra 7 configuration with an MSRP of C$1,899, sold through the ASUS Store, Amazon, Best Buy, Canada Computers, Costco, and Staples. Eligible purchasers receive 12 months of Google AI Pro and 5TB of cloud storage, plus three months of YouTube Premium, Adobe Premiere, and CapCut Pro, along with 12 months of Luminar Photo Editor and GeForce NOW Fast Pass. Launch promotions include, until October 31, 2026, a choice at Best Buy between Pixel Buds 2a valued at C$180 or C$280 off a Google Pixel 9a, and, until December 31, 2026, a one-year warranty extension plus an ASUS AP1602 backpack and ASUS Marshmallow Mouse MD100 worth a combined C$170 at the ASUS Store, a C$150 gift card at Staples, a C$150 promo code at Amazon, a C$165 gift card at Costco, or a Logitech MX Master 4 mouse valued at C$160 at Canada Computers. The laptop pairs an Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processor with 16GB LPDDR5X memory and a 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and features a 14-inch 3K OLED HDR touchscreen with up to 1000 nits peak brightness and a 120Hz refresh rate, a six-speaker audio system, a six-sensor haptic touchpad, WiFi 7, and a 70Wh battery rated for up to 18 hours.

ASUS announced that the ASUS Googlebook 14 (CX9406CAA) is now available for purchase in the United States, priced at $1,299.00, online at the ASUS Store and Best Buy. The 14-inch ultraportable is the first-ever ASUS laptop designed for Gemini Intelligence, built on a shared Android foundation for seamless integration with Android phones. It weighs just 2.18lbs and measures 0.43 inches thin, with a CNC-machined magnesium-aluminum chassis finished in Dusk Ash and protected by Nano Ceramic Technology, tested to US military-grade MIL-STD 810H and ASUS Superior Durability standards. The laptop runs an Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor with 16GB LPDDR5X memory and up to a 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and features a 14-inch 16:10 3K OLED HDR touchscreen with up to 1000 nits peak HDR brightness and a 120Hz refresh rate, a six-speaker audio system, and a 70Wh battery rated at up to 18 hours of battery life. Every purchase includes up to $500 in additional value through a curated bundle of apps and services, most notably 12 months of Google AI Pro and 5TB of cloud storage, plus three months of YouTube Premium, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Photoshop, and CapCut Pro, along with 12 months of Luminar and GeForce NOW.

Sandisk Corporation reported $8.97 billion in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, with $2.98 billion coming from data centers, roughly 33% of the quarter's total, while edge revenue was $5.43 billion and consumer revenue $556 million. Data-center revenue rose from $213 million a year earlier, and its full-year contribution was $5.15 billion out of total sales of $20.25 billion, or about 25%. The company earned $6.90 billion in the quarter and $11.43 billion in fiscal 2026, and reported an 84.6% GAAP gross margin while guiding to an 83% to 84.9% GAAP range for the next quarter. On August 13, Sandisk said eight structured customer agreements covered roughly half of fiscal 2027 bits and two-thirds of fiscal 2028 bits, with minimum financial guarantees, and management's fiscal 2028 to 2030 model targets about 80% adjusted gross margin and 50% adjusted free-cash-flow margin. Short interest stood at 5,618,213 shares on September 15, about 3.8% of float and 0.56 days to cover, and Insider Monkey's hedge fund database counted 128 hedge-fund holders in Q2 2026, up from 114 in Q1.

IonQ jumped roughly 12% in premarket trading on September 23 after testing the industry's first real-time quantum error decoder, then extended gains on news that its Superion quantum processor would be integrated into NVIDIA's Accelerated Quantum Research Center, with Rigetti Computing trading up in sympathy. IonQ's second-quarter revenue came in at $80 million, up 287% year-over-year, and management boosted its 2026 projection to $280-290 million, with combined revenue after closing the SkyWater foundry purchase potentially reaching $460 million for the year. The company held roughly $2 billion in pro-forma cash, cash equivalents and investments following the SkyWater acquisition, dwarfing Rigetti's approximately $540 million. IonQ's market capitalization is around $17.48 billion against combined 2026 revenue guidance of $450 million to $460 million, putting its forward price-to-sales multiple in the 39x range, while Rigetti trades at a trailing price-to-sales ratio of 391.65x. Since September 2024, insiders at IonQ, Rigetti, D-Wave, and Quantum Computing Inc. have collectively sold around $895.1 million more stock than they bought, and short interest stands at 10.15% of IonQ's shares versus 19.07% for Rigetti.

Nvidia said its board increased its share buyback program by $150 billion, leaving $235 billion in total authorization, the largest buyback program in U.S. history according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Advanced Micro Devices said it would acquire AI model and research lab World Labs in an all-stock transaction valued at nearly $8.2 billion, a deal Citi analyst Atif Malik said gives the company deeper visibility into how AI models are evolving, while RBC analyst Srini Pajjuri said it could help position AMD to offer full-stack solutions for robotics, simulation and physical AI markets. Micron Technology reported fourth-quarter results and an outlook that beat expectations as its strategic customer agreements continued to increase, and Accenture reported fiscal quarterly results that exceeded expectations on both revenue and bookings, sending its shares up nearly 16% on Thursday. HPE closed nearly 4% higher after saying it won a $1.2 billion order of AMD's Helios AI rack from cloud infrastructure company Vultr, and raised its fiscal 2027 networking growth outlook to the high-teens to low-20s on a percentage basis, with data center networking revenue expected to grow at a low-to-high 50s percent compound annual rate through fiscal 2029. Anthropic intends to launch its initial public offering before the Thanksgiving holiday, according to Bloomberg, which also reported that Broadcom's Wall Street syndicate is starting to gather $60 billion of fresh AI chip financing to benefit Anthropic PBC and other companies, while Meta Platforms is adding a new Meta Enterprise Platform for organizations, tapping MongoDB CEO Chirantan Desai to lead it, and introduced Muse for Small Business.

Dell Technologies has joined a planned $15 billion AI data center initiative in Japan aimed at supporting large-scale AI workloads by pairing new data facilities with dedicated power supply capacity. The company also introduced rugged laptops with on-device AI features and added security aimed at field and mission-critical use cases. Dell's participation plugs directly into its existing hardware, software and support services business, tying its gear more tightly to power-hungry enterprise workloads and edge environments. The move fits a narrative centered on converting a US$95b AI backlog and a large pipeline into deployed systems, while the rugged laptops push AI closer to field workers in sectors such as public safety and energy. Dell still relies heavily on hardware in segments where HP and Lenovo also compete on price and features.

Dell Technologies has booked more than $130 billion of AI server orders over the past year and ended its latest quarter with a $95 billion AI backlog, with its AI customer base expanding to more than 6,500 customers. The company says some AI engagements require more than 50 unique designs as customers optimize systems around workload performance, power, cooling and data-center constraints. Dell's stock has risen more than fourfold since the end of February and trades at just 21.3 times forward earnings, with revenue expected to surge 69% this year before growing another 20% next year. Hedge fund sentiment strengthened in the second quarter, as the number of funds in Insider Monkey's database holding the stock rose from 72 to 77 and the value of those positions more than doubled from about $1.7 billion to $3.6 billion. Dell acknowledges component costs are rising, particularly for memory and storage, and that supply remains constrained across much of the AI infrastructure chain.

Super Micro has started shipping server racks built for NVIDIA's next-generation Vera Rubin AI architecture, sending its shares up 4.3% in the afternoon session. The start of shipments reinforces the server solutions provider's role in the AI infrastructure supply chain, as Vera Rubin-ready racks house and interconnect the high-density systems data centers need for advanced AI workloads. The stock was trading at $43.69, up 4.4% from the previous close. Super Micro is up 41.1% since the beginning of the year, but at $43.69 per share it remains 25.6% below its 52-week high of $58.68 from October 2025. The company's shares are extremely volatile, having logged 69 moves greater than 5% over the last year.

NetApp shares jumped 6% in the afternoon session after the data storage company unveiled a new AI factory architecture at its Insight conference, according to TipRanks. The company also launched Keystone Sovereign for regulated markets and expanded its partnerships with Oracle and Supermicro. The combined package of AI factory architecture, sovereign cloud storage, and larger OEM ties sparked optimism among investors and analysts, who lifted their price targets on the back of the AI storage narrative. NetApp is up 113% since the beginning of the year and, at $226.50 per share, has set a new 52-week high. The stock has been volatile, with 12 moves greater than 5% over the last year, and its biggest recent move came four months ago, when it gained 26.4% after reporting first-quarter 2026 results that beat expectations, with revenue up 12.5% year-over-year to $1.95 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $2.43.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise raised its fiscal 2027 networking revenue growth forecast to between high-teens and low-20s percent, up from the 14% to 17% projection it gave earlier in September, and secured a $1.2 billion order from cloud infrastructure provider Vultr for AMD-based artificial intelligence server racks paired with Juniper networking switches. The company also lifted its annual cost-synergy target from the Juniper Networks acquisition to $800 million by the end of fiscal 2028, up from at least $600 million, and projected Data Center Networking revenue to grow at a low-to-high 50s percent compound annual rate through fiscal 2029. Following the networking investor day presentation, Citigroup raised its price target on the stock to $92 from $76 while keeping a Buy rating, citing confidence in durable demand and expanding AI infrastructure orders. A cooler-than-expected U.S. jobs report added secondary momentum, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that employers added 29,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in September, trailing the 84,000 consensus estimate from economists polled by Dow Jones. HPE shares jumped 7.8% in the afternoon session and are up 189% since the beginning of the year, reaching a new 52-week high of $69.77 per share.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise received a US$1.2 billion order from Vultr for its new AMD Helios AI servers, marking the first commercial deployment of the Helios racks that combine AMD chips with HPE Networking hardware. The deal is an early revenue milestone for HPE's integrated AI data center platform as Helios moves from launch to customer rollout, and it gives the company a concrete reference customer for model training and inferencing workloads. The US$1.2 billion Vultr order is only one piece of the broader Hewlett Packard Enterprise story, and the company's Helios rollout plugs into its wider role supplying infrastructure for AI workloads at cloud providers and enterprises worldwide. The contract lines up with HPE's existing narrative, which leans on AI infrastructure, Juniper networking and higher margin recurring services as key catalysts. Investors will watch whether HPE converts this first Helios deployment into a visible pipeline of similar rack scale AI deals and repeat orders from Vultr, along with disclosed Helios contract wins and networking order intake linked to AI racks.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares climbed just over 7% on Friday to close at $69.33, up $4.75 from the prior session's close, setting a new 52-week high. The advance followed a networking investor event at which the company unveiled a $1.2 billion AMD Helios AI rack order from Vultr. HPE also raised its longer-term networking outlook and increased its expected annual Juniper-related synergies at the event. The stock traded in a range of $66.00 to $70.29 on volume of approximately 28.97 million shares.

Apple closed the latest session at $333.69, up 1.02% and ahead of the S&P 500's 0.73% gain, while the Dow added 0.49% and the Nasdaq rose 1.19%. Ahead of its upcoming earnings disclosure, Apple is projected to report earnings of $1.99 per share, representing year-over-year growth of 7.57%, on revenue of $112.84 billion, a 10.12% increase from the prior-year quarter. For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates call for earnings of $8.85 per share and revenue of $477.45 billion, year-over-year changes of +18.63% and +14.73% respectively. Over the past month the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has fallen 0.2%, and Apple currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The stock trades at a Forward P/E of 34.63, a premium to its industry's 20.76, with a PEG ratio of 2.63 versus the Computer - Micro Computers industry average of 1.67.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares are pacing for a 10% weekly gain after a blockbuster investor day, building on a 189% year-to-date rise. Ahead of Wednesday's event, HPE announced it had secured a $1.2 billion order from Vultr, a privately held cloud infrastructure company, to deploy its Helios AI server racks, powered by AMD chips, at Vultr's US data centers — the company's first order for the new AMD Helios system. Later that day, HPE raised its fiscal year 2027 revenue growth outlook for the networking segment to a high-teens to low-20s range, and projected Data Center Networking revenue to grow in the low- to mid-50% range annually through fiscal year 2029, with networking segment operating margins forecast in the mid- to high-20% range. The stock climbed roughly 8% on Friday amid the positive reaction, a litany of Wall Street analyst upgrades and price target increases from Evercore ISI, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Truist, and UBS, and broader gains in the tech sector. CFO Marie Myers told Yahoo Finance that demand continues to outpace supply, calling it a supply-constrained environment with AI tailwinds that aren't changing anytime soon.

NetApp delivered a record first quarter of fiscal 2027, with non-GAAP earnings of $2.58 per share, up 66.5% year over year and beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.13 by 21.1%, sending shares up about 16% since the report. Net revenues rose 29.9% to $2,025 million, surpassing the $1,843 million consensus mark by 9.9%, while billings increased 36.1% to $2,057 million. Within the total, Hybrid Cloud revenues advanced 30.1% year over year to $1,819 million, all-flash array revenues reached a record $1,309 million, up 46.6%, and Public Cloud revenues grew 28% to a record $206 million; together, all-flash and Public Cloud represented 75% of quarterly net revenues. The quarter included an additional week that contributed approximately $65 million to revenues, mainly from support and Public Cloud, and excluding that benefit total revenues increased 26% year over year. For fiscal 2027, NetApp now forecasts revenues of $7.975-$8.225 billion, with the $8.10 billion midpoint representing 17% growth and a $650 million increase from prior guidance, and earnings of $9.73-$10.03 per share, whose $9.88 midpoint represents 22% year-over-year growth.

IonQ announced a real-time quantum error correction decoder that runs complex workloads without slowing quantum computations. The company reported new deployments at the NVIDIA Accelerated Quantum Research Center, integrating its hardware into NVIDIA's quantum research stack, and disclosed a partnership with SDT in South Korea to support quantum computing access for regional enterprises and researchers. IonQ said the decoder handles benchmark circuits with up to 408 logical qubits and more than 31.5 million quantum operations with just 0.02% added time, running on a single off-the-shelf CPU while the quantum system keeps operating. IonQ, a US semiconductor player valued at about $17.4b, builds quantum computing systems for clients in the United States, Switzerland, and other regions. Investors will watch how many Superion 256 deployments move from contract to installed and active systems at sites like NVIDIA's research center, FIU and SDT's data center from 2027.

Western Digital ended its latest session at $462.56, up 1.78% and ahead of the S&P 500's 0.2% gain, as investors looked toward an earnings report projected to show earnings of $4.07 per share, a 128.65% year-over-year increase, on quarterly revenue of $4.16 billion, up 47.45%. For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $20.03 per share and revenue of $18.78 billion, representing changes of +95.99% and +45.39% from the prior year. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged over the last 30 days, and Western Digital currently carries a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). The stock trades at a Forward P/E ratio of 22.69, a premium to the industry average of 10.65, and a PEG ratio of 1.89 versus the Computer-Storage Devices industry average of 1.41. The Computer-Storage Devices industry, part of the Computer and Technology sector, currently holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 18, placing it within the top 8% of more than 250 industries.

The fair value estimate for Hewlett Packard Enterprise has been raised from US$65.56 to US$68.08, reflecting a divided analyst view on the company's AI momentum. Several firms, including Citi, Barclays, BofA, Raymond James, Truist, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, have raised price targets on Hewlett Packard Enterprise, citing strong Q3 results, Cloud and AI order strength, and higher guidance for FY26 and FY27. Deutsche Bank noted that roughly two thirds of HPE's reported US$6.3b AI backlog is in enterprise and sovereign customers, which it characterizes as attractive for higher margin networking attach and software or integration opportunities. On the bearish side, Evercore ISI downgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise to In Line, citing valuation after a very large year to date share price gain and fewer near term catalysts, while Evercore ISI and Piper Sandler flagged networking supply constraints and concerns about the company meeting demand. The revised fair value estimate also reflects a revenue growth assumption shift from about 12.90% to roughly 13.84%, a net profit margin assumption of about 9.81% versus roughly 8.55% previously, a future P/E assumption moving from about 24.07x to roughly 19.12x, and a discount rate change from 9.43% to about 9.23%.

Apple plans to enter the smart-home market on Oct. 13, unveiling a new smart hub with a roughly 6-inch square display, according to Bloomberg. The device can recognize who is approaching it, provide personalized answers, and work as a home dashboard for temperature, locks, music, and video calls. The expansion of Apple's hardware lineup comes as newly minted CEO John Ternus oversees a push into AI and deeper integration of Apple's delayed Siri AI assistant. The smart home market has long been dominated by Google and Amazon, and Apple's HomePod and HomePod mini never took off in the way its other signature hardware has. The new hub arrives alongside a new iPhone lineup that takes advantage of a revamped Siri, and Apple TV will also get a refresh with the first new set-top box since 2022.

FactSet Research Systems posted fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings of $4.52 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.32 per share, and its shares advanced 3.8%. Concentrix Corp. reported third-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings of $2.92 per share, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.71 per share, with its shares rising 0.3%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. entered into a $1.2 billion deal with Vultr, sending its shares up 3.9%. Mattel, Inc. appointed Roger Lynch as its new CEO and chairman, and its shares tumbled 4.2%.

Jim Cramer urged investors to buy Apple stock because of the iPhone Duo rather than the company's smart home ambitions, calling the device "AMAZING." The iPhone Duo is priced at 1,999 and will be available in the U.S. on Oct. 23, with pre-orders opening on Oct. 16. Cramer's comments on X followed a Bloomberg report by columnist Mark Gurman that Apple will launch a major new smart home device with a display on Oct. 13. Apple is reportedly preparing to introduce the smart-home device, code-named J490, featuring a roughly 6-inch square display that recognizes users by voice and delivers personalized information based on individual accounts. The tech giant also plans to update its HomePod mini and Apple TV with a revamped Siri AI assistant, with the HomePod mini reportedly coming in new colors including green and pink.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced a $1.2 billion AI system order from cloud infrastructure provider Vultr and raised its multi-year networking outlook ahead of its Networking Investor Day. The order covers deployment of AMD Helios AI Rack systems, marking the first purchase of the new architecture, which combines AMD Instinct processors with purpose-built HPE Networking scale-up switching and software. In a concurrent regulatory filing, HPE raised its fiscal 2027 Networking segment revenue growth forecast to between high teens and low-20s percent, and boosted its annual cost-synergy target from the Juniper Networks acquisition to $800 million by the end of fiscal 2028, up from at least $600 million. The company also projected Data Center Networking revenue to grow at a low-to-high 50s percent compound annual rate through fiscal 2029. Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise jumped 3.7% in the morning session on the news.

Everpure announced new platform capabilities extending its Data Primacy vision, including native MCP integration, AI-optimized FlashBlade acceleration, and privacy-first data intelligence tools aimed at simplifying and securing enterprise data management for AI workloads. The company said the upgrades bring high-performance AI execution directly to data at the source while classifying sensitivity and access in real time, positioning its platform as a central control layer for both AI cost management and cyber resilience. Everpure said the near-term catalysts remain execution on its FY2027-2028 revenue guidance and uptake of newer software-led offerings. Eight Simply Wall St Community valuations for Everpure span roughly US$84 to over US$370 per share. The company faces a rich sales multiple, recent insider selling, a volatile share price, and index reshuffling.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock closed at a record high of $63.89 on Wednesday, up nearly 4% on the session and 166% year to date, as the company outlined surging networking demand and a first-of-its-kind AI server order. At its investor day, HPE executive vice president Rami Rahim said the company expects fiscal 2026 networking orders to exceed $3 billion, surpassing its third quarter guidance of $2.5 billion to $3 billion, and raised its fiscal 2027 revenue growth outlook for the segment to a high-teens to low-20s range, with operating margins forecast in the mid-to-high 20s percent range. Separately, HPE announced a $1.2 billion order from privately held cloud infrastructure company Vultr to deploy its Helios AI server racks, powered by AMD chips, at Vultr's US data centers, marking HPE's first order for the new AMD Helios system. CFO Marie Myers told Yahoo Finance that demand continues to outpace supply and that AI tailwinds are not changing anytime soon. Rahim said the combination of Juniper and Aruba positions HPE to win in networking.