MMarketMath

HPE

Slow growerQuality: Low (29/100)3 red flags

Hewlett Packard Enterprise · Information Technology · Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals

$52.43

52w 19.84 – 64.25

20y monthly, adjusted

Mkt cap

$69.4B

P/E

1,218.0

P/FCF

110.7

FCF yield

0.9%

ROE

0.2%

Shldr yield

1.3%

div 1.0% + bb 0.3%

What today's price assumes

At $69.4B, the market is pricing in 31.4% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next decade (10% discount rate, 2.5% terminal growth). Over the last ten years, FCF actually grew 7.1% per year — the price asks for acceleration beyond the historical record.

Simple DCF per-share range: $7 · $9 · $11 (4% / base / optimistic growth). An estimate, not a target.

Adjust the assumptions yourself →

Historical multiple lens

At its own median P/OCF of 4.7× across 11 years, HPE would trade near $10/share (25th–75th percentile: $9–$14); it trades at 23.8× today.

Assumes the historical multiple regime persists — re-ratings can be permanent.

Growth record

Compound annual growth rates from as-filed 10-K data, split-adjusted

Rev 3y

+6.4%

Rev 5y

+4.9%

Rev 10y

+1.0%

EPS 5y

EPS 10y

FCF 5y

FCF 10y

+7.1%

Fundamentals

Fiscal 2013–2025, from SEC filings

Revenue

2013: $57.4B
2014: $55.1B
2015: $31.1B
2016: $30.3B
2017: $28.9B
2018: $30.9B
2019: $29.1B
2020: $27.0B
2021: $27.8B
2022: $28.5B
2023: $29.1B
2024: $30.1B
2025: $34.3B
$0$20.0B$40.0B
13
16
19
22
25

Net income

2013: $2.1B
2014: $1.6B
2015: $2.5B
2016: $3.2B
2017: $344.0M
2018: $1.9B
2019: $1.0B
2020: −$322.0M
2021: $3.4B
2022: $868.0M
2023: $2.0B
2024: $2.6B
2025: $57.0M
$0$1.0B$2.0B$3.0B
13
16
19
22
25

Free cash flow

2013: $6.2B
2014: $3.3B
2015: $317.0M
2016: $1.8B
2017: −$1.8B
2018: $8.0M
2019: $1.1B
2020: −$143.0M
2021: $3.4B
2022: $1.5B
2023: $1.6B
2024: $2.0B
2025: $627.0M
$0$2.5B$5.0B
13
16
19
22
25

Diluted shares (lower is better)

2013: 1.8B
2014: 1.8B
2015: 1.8B
2016: 1.7B
2017: 1.7B
2018: 1.6B
2019: 1.4B
2020: 1.3B
2021: 1.3B
2022: 1.3B
2023: 1.3B
2024: 1.3B
2025: 1.3B
0500.0M1.0B1.5B
13
16
19
22
25

Margins

0%10%13151719212325
Net marginFCF marginGross margin

Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)

2014: $0
2015: $0
2016: $3.0B
2017: $3.0B
2018: $4.1B
2019: $2.9B
2020: $973.0M
2021: $838.0M
2022: $1.1B
2023: $1.0B
2024: $826.0M
2025: $886.0M
$0$2.0B$4.0B
13
16
19
22
25

Cash vs long-term debt

$0$10.0B$20.0B13151719212325
CashLT debt

Quarterly

Discrete quarters from 10-Q filings; Q4 derived as fiscal year minus Q1–Q3. OCF is unwound from the year-to-date figures 10-Qs report. Compare to the same quarter a year ago — most businesses are seasonal.

Revenue by quarter

Q2'23: $7.0B
Q3'23: $7.0B
Q4'23: $7.4B
Q1'24: $6.8B
Q2'24: $7.2B
Q3'24: $7.7B
Q4'24: $8.5B
Q1'25: $7.9B
Q2'25: $7.6B
Q3'25: $9.1B
Q4'25: $9.7B
Q1'26: $9.3B
Q2'26: $10.7B
$0$5.0B$10.0B
23
24
24
25
26

Net income by quarter

Q2'23: $418.0M
Q3'23: $464.0M
Q4'23: $642.0M
Q1'24: $387.0M
Q2'24: $314.0M
Q3'24: $512.0M
Q4'24: $1.4B
Q1'25: $627.0M
Q2'25: −$1.1B
Q3'25: $305.0M
Q4'25: $175.0M
Q1'26: $452.0M
Q2'26: $624.0M
−$1.0B$0$1.0B
23
24
24
25
26
QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYEPSOCF
Q2'26$10.7B+40.0%$624.0M0.44$1.4B
Q1'26$9.3B+18.4%$452.0M−27.9%0.31$1.2B
Q4'25 *$9.7B+14.4%$175.0M−87.2%0.13$2.5B
Q3'25$9.1B+18.5%$305.0M−40.4%0.21$1.3B
Q2'25$7.6B+5.9%−$1.1B−434.4%-0.82−$461.0M
Q1'25$7.9B+16.3%$627.0M+62.0%0.44−$390.0M
Q4'24 *$8.5B+15.1%$1.4B+112.8%1.02$2.0B
Q3'24$7.7B+10.1%$512.0M+10.3%0.38$1.2B
Q2'24$7.2B+3.3%$314.0M−24.9%0.24$1.1B
Q1'24$6.8B−13.5%$387.0M−22.8%0.29$64.0M
Q4'23 *$7.4B−6.6%$642.0M0.49$2.8B
Q3'23$7.0B+0.7%$464.0M+13.4%0.35$1.5B
Q2'23$7.0B+3.9%$418.0M+67.2%0.32$889.0M

Track record

Compound annual growth by period. For debt and share count, negative is the good direction.

Series3y5y10y15y
Revenue+6.4%+4.9%+1.0%
Operating cash flow−14.0%+5.4%−2.2%
Free cash flow−24.7%−9.5%+7.1%
EPS (diluted)−9.2%+20.2%+7.9%
Equity+7.5%+9.0%−3.0%
LT debt+22.1%+8.0%+3.7%
Diluted shares+0.1%+0.5%−3.2%
Stock price+49.4%+31.3%+18.7%

$100, 3 years ago

$333vs $176 in SPY

49.4% vs 20.7%/yr

$100, 5 years ago

$391vs $181 in SPY

31.3% vs 12.6%/yr

$100, 10 years ago

$555vs $412 in SPY

18.7% vs 15.2%/yr

The $1 test — market value created per $1 of earnings retained (Buffett's hurdle: at least $1)

Last 5 years

$2.87

$16.4B created / $5.7B retained

Last 10 years

$1.80

$16.7B created / $9.3B retained

Quality & capital discipline

Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital

Cash ROIC

6.3%

OCF ÷ (equity + debt)

OCF / EV yield

3.4%

MC vs 10× OCF

2.38

≤1 = priced under 10× OCF

Debt / FCF

34.7y

SBC / FCF

102.6%

Owner earnings

−$16.0M

OCF − capex − SBC

OE yield

-0.0%

Share count 5y

−2.7%

per year; negative = buybacks

Capital intensity

17.5%

net PP&E ÷ revenue

Sales efficiency

$0.05

new PP&E per $1 new revenue, 5y

Growth engine (5y): reinvested 63.4% of operating cash flow at an incremental return of 4.8% — an organically fundable growth rate of about 3.1% per year (growth ≈ reinvestment rate × incremental ROIC).

Checklist

8 of 23 checks pass · 35%. Checks with structurally missing inputs are excluded.

Growth & Consistency

3/5

  • Revenue growth

    4.9% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    fail
  • EPS growth

    · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    na
  • FCF growth

    · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    na
  • Revenue rises consistently

    6 of 9 · up in ≥ 7 of last 10 years

    fail
  • FCF consistently positive

    8 of 10 · positive in ≥ 8 of last 10 years

    pass
  • Profitable every year

    9 of 10 · net income > 0 in ≥ 8 of last 10

    pass
  • Cash flow keeps up with sales

    5.4% vs 4.9% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR

    pass

Profitability

1/6

  • Net margin

    0.2% · ≥ 8%

    fail
  • Operating margin

    -1.3% · ≥ 10%

    fail
  • Gross margin stable or rising

    · no drop > 2 pts over 3y

    na
  • Return on equity

    0.2% · ≥ 12%

    fail
  • Cash ROIC

    6.3% · ≥ 12%

    fail
  • FCF margin

    1.8% · ≥ 5%

    fail
  • Earnings back their cash

    OCF $2.9B vs NI $57.0M · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)

    pass

Balance Sheet

2/4

  • Debt payable from cash flow

    34.7y · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF

    fail
  • Cash cushion

    27% · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt

    fail
  • Leverage

    0.88 · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity

    pass
  • Equity positive and compounding

    $24.7B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y

    pass
  • Interest burden

    -251% · interest ≤ 15% of operating income

    na

Capital Allocation

2/4

  • Share count flat or shrinking

    -2.7% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y

    pass
  • Stock comp restrained

    103% · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF

    fail
  • Distributions funded by FCF

    141% · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF

    fail
  • Repurchases are a habit

    10 of 10 · buybacks in ≥ 5 of last 10 years

    pass

Valuation Discipline

0/4

  • FCF yield

    0.9% · ≥ 3%

    fail
  • Earnings multiple

    1218.0 · P/E ≤ 25

    fail
  • Price asks less than history delivered

    31.4% vs 7.1% · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR

    fail
  • Shareholder yield

    1.3% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap

    fail

Red flags

Mechanical checks — a flag is a question to investigate, not a verdict

Heavy debt load

Long-term debt exceeds 5 years of free cash flow.

Heavy stock compensation

Stock-based compensation consumes more than 30% of free cash flow.

Distributions exceed FCF

Dividends plus buybacks exceeded free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.

Financial data

As filed in 10-Ks; per-share figures split-adjusted. $ in millions.

FYRevenueGross profitOp incomeNet incomeEPSOCFCapExFCFDividendsBuybacksSBCCashLT debtEquityShares
202534,296-43757-0.042,9192,2926276842026435,77321,74824,6881,324
202430,1272,1902,5791.934,3412,3671,97467615043014,84617,66024,8161,337
202329,1352,0892,0251.544,4282,8281,6006194214284,27011,69421,1821,316
202228,4967828680.664,5933,1221,4716215123914,16311,94319,8641,322
202127,7841,1323,4272.585,8712,5023,3696252133823,99612,45719,9711,330
202026,982-329-322-0.252,2402,383-1436183552744,23314,79716,0491,294
201929,1351,2741,0490.773,9972,8561,1416082,2492683,7539,39517,0981,366
201830,8521,7371,9081.232,9642,95685703,5682864,88010,13621,2391,553
201728,8715643440.211,3353,137-1,8024282,5564289,57910,18223,4661,674
201630,2803,9033,1611.825,0563,2801,7763732,66255812,98712,16831,4481,739
201531,0771,9462,4611.343,6613,34431705659,84215,10333,5351,834
201455,1232,3351,6480.906,9113,6203,29104272,31948536,7761,834
201357,3712,9522,0511.128,7392,4976,2423742,18238,3751,834

Some concepts are structurally absent for certain industries (banks report no gross profit or capex). Missing ≠ zero.