Hewlett’s Earnings Up Despite Slowdown

Article Excerpt

HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. $30 (New York symbol HPQ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 2.4 billion; Market cap: $72 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; WSSF Rating: Above Average) is half way toward its goal of cutting its costs by $1 billion in its current fiscal year. In its first fiscal quarter, which ended January 31, 2009, its earnings were unchanged at $2.3 billion from a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 8.1%, to $0.93 from $0.86 on fewer shares outstanding. These figures exclude one-time items, including integration costs related to Hewlett’s $13.9-billion purchase of Electronic Data Systems in August 2008. Revenue rose 1.2%, to $28.8 billion from $28.5 billion. Slowing demand for new computers will likely cut Hewlett’s full-year revenue by 2% to 5%. However, its earnings should rise to $3.82 a share, and the stock trades at just 7.9 times that forecast. Hewlett-Packard is a buy. buy…