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Piper Sandler Downgrades Hercules Capital, Inc. (HTGC) to Neutral and Lowers its Price Target to $17.50

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) is among the 11 High Growth Financial Stocks to Buy Now.

On February 13, 2026, Piper Sandler downgraded Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) to Neutral from Overweight and lowered the price target to $17.50 from $20.50 following the Q4 report. Piper Sandler noted the company’s 35% exposure to software could create “negative headlines, noise, and potential difficulty in business models with AI disruption a risk.” While Piper Sandler continues to view Hercules as one of the best underwriters in technology lending, Piper Sandler believes near term returns will be driven primarily by the dividend rather than share appreciation amid macro uncertainty and volatility.

Also on February 13, 2026, Keefe Bruyette lowered its price target on Hercules Capital, Inc. to $19 from $20 and maintained an Outperform rating.

On February 12, 2026, Hercules Capital, Inc. reported Q4 EPS of 48c, compared with the 49c consensus. CEO Scott Bluestein said, “Our record-breaking performance in 2025” included all-time highs in new debt and equity commitments, gross fundings, net debt portfolio growth, and investment income. New commitments reached $3.92 billion, and gross fundings totaled $2.28 billion, up 45.7% and 25.9% year over year, respectively. The company declared a supplemental distribution of $0.07 per share in the fourth quarter, marking its 22nd consecutive supplemental dividend, and said it remains focused on disciplined credit and underwriting, liquidity, prudent leverage, and expanding private fund capacity heading into 2026.

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) is a business development company that provides private equity, venture debt, and growth capital to venture capital-backed companies from mid-venture to expansion stage, as well as select public and special opportunity companies.

While we acknowledge the potential of HTGC as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than HTGC and that has a 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 10 Most Profitable Undervalued Stocks to Buy and 11 Best Mining Stocks to Buy According to Wall Street.

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The $250 Trillion AI Hype is Real. A few years from now, you’ll probably wish you’d bought this stock.

Dr. Inan Dogan

Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

When Jeff Bezos said that one breakthrough technology would shape Amazon’s destiny, even Wall Street’s biggest analysts were caught off guard.

Fast forward a year and Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy described generative AI as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology that is already being used across Amazon to reinvent customer experiences.

At the 8th Future Investment Initiative conference, Elon Musk predicted that by 2040 there would be at least 10 billion humanoid robots, with each priced between $20,000 and $25,000.

Do the math. According to Musk, this technology could be worth $250 trillion by 2040.

Put another way, that’s roughly equal to:

  • 175 Teslas
  • 107 Amazons
  • 140 Metas
  • 84 Googles
  • 65 Microsofts
  • And 55 Nvidias

And here’s the wild part — this $250 trillion wave isn’t tied to one company, but to an entire ecosystem of AI innovators set to reshape the global economy.

It’s a leap so massive, it could reshape how businesses, governments, and consumers operate worldwide.

Even if that $250 trillion figure sounds ambitious, major firms like PwC and McKinsey still see AI unlocking multi-trillion-dollar potential.

How could anything be worth that much?

The answer lies in a breakthrough so powerful it’s redefining how humanity works, learns, and creates.

And this breakthrough has already set off a frenzy among hedge funds and Wall Street’s top investors.

What most investors don’t realize is that one under-owned company holds the key to this $250 trillion revolution.

In fact, Verge argues this company’s supercheap AI technology should concern rivals.

Before I reveal the details, let’s talk about how some of the richest people on the planet are positioning themselves.

  • Bill Gates sees artificial intelligence as the “biggest technological advance in my lifetime,” more transformative than the internet or personal computer, capable of improving healthcare, education, and addressing climate change.
  • Larry Ellison — through Oracle, is spending billions on Nvidia chips and partnering with Cohere to embed generative AI across Oracle’s cloud and apps.
  • Warren Buffett — not known for tech hype — says this breakthrough could have a ‘hugely beneficial social impact.

When billionaires from Silicon Valley to Wall Street line up behind the same idea — you know it’s worth paying attention to.

Even as we admire what Tesla, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft have built, we believe an even greater opportunity lies elsewhere…

But the real story isn’t Nvidia — it’s a much smaller company quietly improving the critical technology that makes this entire revolution possible.

And judging by what I’m hearing from both Silicon Valley insiders and Wall Street veterans…

This prediction might not be bold at all:

A few years from now, you’ll wish you’d owned this stock.

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Wall Street calls this $3 stock a “Melting Ice Cube.” They said the same thing about BTI before it returned 90%.

Dr. Inan Dogan

Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

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We alerted our subscribers, and BTI returned 90% in just 16 months.

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