HP Profits Increase 26 Percent in First Quarter

Hewlett-Packard, which has overtaken Dell as the world’s largest producer of PCs, soared to profitability on Feb. 20, with earnings of 55 cents a share and revenue of $25.1 billion.

Excluding one-time items and other charges, the Palo Alto, Calif., IT giant posted first-quarter earnings of 65 cents a share or $1.8 billion, which beat Wall Street estimates. Analyst polled by Thomson Financial had called for earnings of 62 cents a share.

Overall, HP’s first-quarter financial results showed a 26 percent increase from the same time last year. In the first quarter, which ended Jan. 31, the company had profits of $1.55 billion or 55 cents per share, compared to 42 cents or $1.23 billion a year ago. Revenue swelled to $25.1 billion, an increase of 11 percent or $2.4 billion from a year ago. Analysts had called for revenue of $24.3 billion.

“I am pleased with the first quarter and the revenue we had,” CEO Mark Hurd told analysts in a conference call following the announcement of the quarterly results.

Carl Claunch, an analyst with Gartner, said HP’s roadmap during the past year was to focus in a reasonable strategy and the company then made sure to execute that strategy. The results were not only better profits and margins, but also revenue.

“They really did have a solid quarter of impressive growth,” Claunch said.

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