HP Is Stockpiling Products Ahead of Potential Tariffs From President Trump

"We did some increases of our own inventory during the last month," HP CEO Enrique Lores told Yahoo Finance at the World Economic Forum in Davos

HP is stockpiling products ahead of potential tariffs from President Trump, an action that could raise consumer prices for laptops, tablets and smartphones.

"We did some increases of our own inventory during the last month," HP CEO Enrique Lores told Yahoo Finance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "It's more final product, not so much components, to mitigate the impact at the beginning."

Suntory CEO Tak Niinami also told Yahoo Finance at WEF that his company has stockpiled enough whiskey in Europe to last a year.

If higher tariffs go into effect, it could raise material costs for HP and force it to raise consumer prices.

The Consumer Technology Association recently estimated that proposed tariffs from the Trump administration could increase laptop and tablet prices by as much as 46%. Smartphones could see a 26% price increase. Trump has floated tariffs of 10% to 20% on most imports and 60% tariffs on Chinese imports.

A board member of a large US electronics retailer told Yahoo Finance at WEF that 50% of their time is currently spent studying possible tariff scenarios. A good chunk of what the company sells, such as headphones and speakers, is exposed to China, the source said.

In a hawkish speech at WEF on Thursday, Trump floated 25% tariffs on the European Union. He didn't say whether he would enact more tariffs on China, as he has suggested consistently.

As tariff concerns swirl, HP has reported a few mixed quarters.

Sales of consumer PCs fell 4% in the most recent quarter, while commercial sales improved 5%. Operating margins in the PC division fell sharply year over year.

Similar to the previous quarter, commercial clients are upgrading their computers ahead of Microsoft (MSFT) ending support for Windows 10 in October 2025.

Consumer PCs are under slight pressure as customers await new AI computer releases and spend more money on experiences.

"The challenging near-term fundamentals for the PC market are already well understood, although HPQ is facing greater headwinds in relation to competitive pricing dynamics in the market as it attempts to pass through pricing to recover higher memory costs," JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee said in a client note.

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Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram and on LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.

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