Markets are riding high this week, reaching all-time records, as anticipation builds around a strong Q2 earnings season for tech. It’s a sharp turnaround from the volatility that rattled investors just a few months ago.\n\nElevate Your Investing Strategy:\nTake advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence.\n\nOffering his take on the current landscape, JPMorgan global market strategist Jordan Jackson summed it up with one word: \"resilient.\" He noted that companies responded to recent uncertainty with swift and decisive cost-cutting, freezing hiring, trimming workforces, and renegotiating supply chain burdens to weather the storm.\n\n\"When you look at the broader backdrop, you’ve got to look at resiliency in some of the earnings. And I think we’ll see that in some of the tech earnings,\" Jackson explained in a recent interview.\n\nJackson’s optimism doesn’t stop at Q2. Looking ahead, he added, \"Markets appear to be, as we flirt with all time highs, sort of sanguine over the very, very near term. But… over the next 12 months, I think markets are going to be higher than where they are today, probably meaningfully so.\" \n\nDoubling down on that positive outlook, JPMorgan’s stock analysts are backing up Jackson’s stance with specific Buy-rated picks they believe are primed to outperform. We tapped into the TipRanks database to see which names they’ve singled out and what caught their attention.\n\nHewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)\n\nThe first JPM pick we’ll look at here is Hewlett Packard Enterprises, which was founded as an independent entity when Hewlett-Packard split up in 2015. Hewlett Packard Enterprises, HPE, inherited its parent company’s business in the server, storage, and networking segments – the very segments that have proven indispensable in today’s tech environment of expanding AI and cloud computing. HPE is known as an innovator in its field, developing AI-native and edge-to-cloud systems to meet customers’ needs in all areas of business operations.\n\nThose areas include everything from business intelligence to data collation and security, to edge computing and hybrid cloud ops, to the latest AI applications. Earlier this year, HPE announced a $14 billion merger with Juniper Networks, a transaction that is widely expected to boost HPE’s AI-native and cloud capabilities. The acquisition was closed on July 2, and HPE believes the move will bring $600 million in cost synergies over the next three years.\n\nTurning to the company’s financials, in fiscal 2Q25 (April quarter), we find that HPE’s revenue, at $7.6 billion, was up 6% year-over-year and beat the forecast by $130 million. At the bottom line, the company’s non-GAAP earnings came to $0.38 per share, or 5 cents per share better than had been anticipated.\n\nJPM’s Samik Chatterjee, an analyst ranked amongst the top 3% of Street stock experts, sees HPE with both a sound foundation and bright prospects, and he describes that in a recent note. Writing of the stock, the tech expert says, \"We rate shares of HP Enterprise (HPE) at an Overweight (OW) rating, given its solid position across servers, storage, and networking — the latter of which has been bolstered by the acquisition of Juniper, increasing its mix of higher-margin, less cyclical revenue relative to broader IT hardware equipment. Importantly, we see this as not only providing further headroom for upside relative to revenue and earnings growth over the coming years, particularly with the latter further reinforced by sizable cost synergies, but also driving upward pressure on the multiple that investors are willing to ascribe to the shares, which is set against the backdrop of the shares historically trading at a discount relative to the broader peer group.\" \n\nThe Overweight (i.e., Buy) rating noted above comes along with a $30 price target, suggesting a gain of 46% by this time next year. (To watch Chatterjee’s track record, click here)\n\nHPE shares have a Moderate Buy consensus rating, based on 15 recent analyst reviews with an almost even split of 8 Buys and 7 Holds. The stock is priced at $20.51 and its $24.38 average price target implies an upside of 19% in the next 12 months. (See HPE stock forecast)\n\nCalifornia Resources Corporation (CRC)\n\nThe second stock on our JPM-backed list is an energy company, California Resources. This is one of the many independent exploration and production companies operating in the North America hydrocarbon sector; as its name suggests, California Resources focuses its activities in the State of California.\n\nThat’s a rich field for an oil and gas producer – California is the seventh-largest oil-producing state in the Union, and one of the world’s largest oil and gas regions. CRC’s operations are located mainly in the San Joaquin Basin, in the southern part of the state’s Central Valley. CRC is currently working in 42 oil fields in this region, and 73% of the company’s proven reserves are located here. CRC also has active operations in the Ventura Basin, the Los Angeles Basin, and the Sacramento Basin, among others.\n\nCalifornia Resources is a $4.4 billion company, with strong production numbers. In the first quarter of this year, the firm generated an ‘average net production’ of 141 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (Mboe/d). Of this total, 79% was oil and the remainder was natural gas and natural gas liquids. The first quarter production figure was flat from the final quarter of 2024, but it was up nearly double the 76 Mboe/d reported in 1Q24.\n\nIn CRC’s first-quarter earnings report for this year, the last report released, the company generated $912 million in top-line revenues. This was up an impressive 101% year-over-year, and beat expectations by more than $50 million. At the bottom line, the company realized a non-GAAP EPS of $1.07, which was 30 cents better than the forecast. The company’s free cash flow of $131 million was up 11% from the prior quarter.\n\nWatching this stock for JPM, analyst Zach Parham sees plenty of value here for investors. He is impressed by the company’s prospects for further growth in the second half of this year, writing, \"We believe the stock is undervalued on a sum-of-the-parts basis… We see the potential for value to be realized if drilling permit approvals resume in California, something we believe is possible in 2H25. Additionally, CRC has a unique set of non-PDP assets (Carbon Management, the Elk Hills Power Plant, and Huntington Beach real estate) that we value at an incremental ~$16 per share. CRC also has a number of unique catalysts in 2H25+ that should provide a pathway to further value creation, including 1) the expected first injection of CO2 from CRC’s Carbon Management Business (CMB), 2) the potential passage of CA AB 881, which would allow for the construction of CO2 pipelines in CA and provide a pathway for CRC to further grow its CMB, 3) the potential restart of drilling permit approvals in CA, providing an opportunity for CRC to slow production declines, and 4) a potential PPA at the CRC-owned Elk Hills Power Plant.\" \n\nThese comments support Parham’s Overweight (i.e., Buy) rating on the shares, while his $63 price target points toward a gain of 26% going into next year. (To watch Parham’s track record, click here)\n\nCalifornia Resources has earned a Strong Buy consensus rating from the Street’s analysts, based on 10 reviews that feature a lopsided split of 9 Buys and 1 Hold. The stock is currently selling for $50, and its $58 average price target suggests that the shares have an upside of 16% on the one-year horizon. (See CRC stock forecast)\n\nTo find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.\n\nDisclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

J.P. Morgan Doubles Down on These 2 Stocks

JPMorgan analysts recommend two stocks—Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and California Resources Corporation (CRC)—based on strong financial performance, strategic acquisitions, and growth potential. HPE, a tech company, recently merged with Juniper Networks to enhance AI and cloud capabilities, while CRC, an energy firm, benefits from California's oil and gas sector and potential regulatory changes.