Topic: Growth Stocks

The Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, August 21, 2009

Article Excerpt

HEWLETT-PACKARD CO., $44.78, New York symbol HPQ, reported revenue of $27.5 billion in its third quarter, which ended July 31, 2009. That’s down 2.1% from $28 billion a year earlier. The revenue drop came despite Hewlett’s $13.9-billion purchase of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in August 2008. Thanks to EDS, revenue at Hewlett’s computer-services business jumped 93% in the latest quarter, to $8.5 billion, or 31% of total revenue. However, this was more than offset by lower sales of computers, printers and software. Hewlett continues to cut its costs in response to the slow sales. As a result, earnings rose 1.0%, to $2.21 billion from $2.19 billion. Earnings per share rose 5.8%, to $0.91 from $0.86, on fewer outstanding shares. These figures exclude the cost of integrating EDS. On this basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.90 a share. Hewlett expects its fourth-quarter sales to rise by 8% from the third quarter. That’s because computer sales typically rise during the…