Shares of Hewlett-Packard Trend Higher on Goldman's Upgrade

In a report published Thursday, Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope upgraded shares of

from Sell to Neutral and raised the price target from $25.00 to $32.00. Shope remarked that his "bear case was wrong", with the Sell rating based on Hewlett-Packard's secular challenges. The analyst emphasized that management has executed "far more effectively than we anticipated." Shares of Hewlett-Packard are up 50.5 percent from April 2, 2013, when Goldman put the company on its Sell List. The analyst wrote, "Following HP Discover in Las Vegas, we walk away incrementally more positive on the progress of the turnaround. While our view on many of HP's end markets remains cautious, restructuring efforts have gone a long way towards “right-sizing” the cost base, providing a sustained buffer to our secular concerns. Further, robust cash generation amidst this period of change has been commendable and continues to outpace our expectations." Goldman raised FY14, FY15, and FY16 estimates from $3.64/$3.52/$3.60 to $3.70/$3.93/$4.06, respectively. Shares of Hewlett-Packard closed at $33.25 on Wednesday. The stock is currently up 3.038 percent at $34.26, shortly after the opening bell.