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| New Hewlett
Packard Company chief executive Mark Hurd smiles during a news conference at HP headquarters
in Palo Alto, Calif., Wednesday, March 30, 2005. (AP Photo/Paul
Sakuma, file) |
Hewlett-Packard Co. reported a slight boost in
quarterly earnings, inching
past Wall Street's expectations, but the company's new leader lowered
expectations for the current quarter and acknowledged that "overall
performance leaves room for improvement."
For the three months ended April 30, Palo Alto-based HP reported a
profit of $966 million, or 33 cents per share, up 9 percent from $884
million, or 29 cents per share, in the second fiscal quarter of 2004.
Excluding special items, such as $177 million in buyouts and other work
force reduction expenses, HP would have earned $1.07 billion, or 37 cents
per share, up 4 percent from $1.03 billion, or 34 cents per share, in the
same period a year earlier.
Quarterly revenue was $21.6 billion, up 7 percent from $20.1 billion in
the same quarter a year ago. If adjusted for the declining value of the
dollar, HP sales would have grown only 4 percent.
HP's quarterly results were 1 cent ahead of expectations of analysts
polled by Thomson Financial, who forecast 36 cents per share on sales of
nearly $21.4 billion.
"HP had a solid quarter," said Mark Hurd, whom the board named chief
executive and president in March. "Nevertheless, our overall performance
leaves room for improvement in many of our businesses. We expect to
provide details as soon as our plans are finalized that will move us
toward that objective."
HP shares rose 54 cents, or 2.6 percent, to close at $21.55 before the earnings report was released Tuesday afternoon, just
below a 52-week high of $22.26. The stock added
another 3.5 percent, or 75 cents, in extended trading.
(AP) |
Updated: 2005-05-18 15:18
