SAN FRANCISCO—Hewlett-Packard, the world’s No. 1 printer maker and the No. 2 shipper of personal computers, on Aug. 16 reported strong Q3 financial results that exceeded Wall Street analysts’ expectations.
HP, based in Palo Alto, Calif., reported a fiscal third-quarter profit of $1.38 billion—or 48 cents per share—compared to $73 million, or 3 cents a share a year ago. Overall revenue increased 5 percent from $20.8 billion to $21.89 billion.
“We’re obviously pleased about how we’re doing now and confident about the road ahead,” President and CEO Mark Hurd told a conference call of reporters and analysts.
Some two dozen analysts surveyed by Thomson One, of The Thompson Corp, with U.S. headquarters in Stamford, Conn., had predicted HP would report $21.8 billion in revenue and earnings of 47 cents per share.
Excluding the cost of certain items, the company earned about $1.5 billion, or 52 cents per share, an increase of nearly 40 percent from the same quarter in 2005.
“The PC market, as we see it, is staying roughly steady,” Hurd said. “We think the strength of the market will stay pretty level for a while. We’re keeping our eye on the U.S. consumer first in that area; that will dictate our strategy going forward.”
Read the full story on eWEEK.com: HP’s Hurd ‘Confident,’ Pushes for Better Performance
