Following Dell - Hewlett Packard Enterprise skyrockets 30% after hours on biggest earnings beat since 2018 as another AI beneficiary

* HPE reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings of 79 cents per share on $10.7 billion revenue, exceeding expectations vs. $9.79 billion and 53 cents expected expected * The company raised its fiscal 2026 revenue growth outlook to 29% to 33%, up from 17% to 22%, driven by AI demand. * HPE’s networking revenue rose 148% to $2.69 billion due to the Juniper acquisition, with 75% free cash flow return planned for 2027. It was the company’s biggest EPS beat since February 2018. Revenue was up 40% over a year ago. Overall Cloud & AI revenue came in at $7.71 billion, topping the StreetAccount estimate of $6.87 billion, but it was the company’s server unit that really impressed. Server revenue, which is a sub-division of the cloud and artificial intelligence unit, came in at $5.45 billion, blowing away the $4.66 billion expected by analysts. The server maker bumped its full-year EPS guidance by a full dollar, projecting fiscal year 2026 EPS of $3.35 to $3.45, up from $2.30 to $2.50. The company said it is now tracking two years ahead of its own long-term financial plan. CEO Antonio Neri told CNBC’s Kristina Partsinevelos that traditional server bookings are up triple digits, and it is the biggest backlog the company has ever seen. “Customers continue to invest in modernizing their infrastructure and scaling AI, and our performance shows the strength of our combined networking portfolio,” Neri said in a release announcing the quarterly results. Neri also told CNBC that industries focused on security are seeing especially rapid acceleration for AI on-premises, instead of in the cloud. HPE is largely focused on providing that service to national labs and enterprises.