HPE wins court approval for DOJ settlement on $14 billion Juniper Networks acquisition

Aug 13, 2026

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE) secured federal court approval from U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts for its antitrust settlement with the DOJ, clearing the way to close its $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks Inc. The ruling defeated a challenge by Democratic state attorneys general who argued the settlement's terms—including HPE's divestiture of its Instant On WLAN business—were inadequate. Meanwhile, HPE shares surged over 8% following record infrastructure earnings from Lenovo Group, which highlighted a rapidly expanding global AI server pipeline.

DOJ settlement court approval

▪The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit on January 30, 2025, alleging that the merger of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. and Juniper Networks Inc. would reduce competition in enterprise-grade wireless networking.
▪U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts approved Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.'s settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding its $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks Inc. on August 12, 2026.

Instant On WLAN divestiture

▪Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. agreed to divest its Instant On campus and branch WLAN business within 180 days of the June 28, 2025 settlement agreement.
▪Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. agreed to license critical Juniper Networks Inc. software to ensure competitors remain viable in the enterprise wireless networking market.

State attorneys general challenge

▪A group of Democratic state attorneys general, led by California and New York, challenged the settlement, alleging the required divestitures and licensing terms were inadequate and resulted from improper lobbying.
▪U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts ruled that while the challenging states brought to light details about Department of Justice operations, they failed to show the settlement was not in the public interest.

Lenovo infrastructure revenue surge

▪Lenovo Group's total revenue rose 43% year-over-year to $26.94 billion in its first fiscal quarter of 2026/27, beating the Bloomberg analyst consensus of $22.42 billion.
▪Lenovo Group reported Infrastructure Solutions Group revenue of $8.51 billion for its first fiscal quarter of 2026/27, representing a 98% year-over-year increase.

AI server pipeline growth

▪Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. entered its fiscal second quarter of 2026 with a record AI systems backlog of $5 billion, which grew to $5.9 billion by the end of the quarter.
▪Lenovo Group disclosed that its AI server pipeline reached $54 billion in its first fiscal quarter of 2026/27, up 157% from the $21 billion pipeline reported in the prior quarter.

HPE stock rally

▪Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. shares rose over 8% on August 13, 2026, opening at $58.78, driven by positive read-through from Lenovo Group's record infrastructure earnings.
▪Morgan Stanley upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. to Overweight on August 10, 2026, setting a price target of $69 and naming it the preferred enterprise infrastructure play.