Topic: Growth Stocks

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, February 25, 2011

Article Excerpt

HEWLETT-PACKARD CO., $42.68, New York symbol HPQ, reported better-than-expected earnings this week. However, sales fell short of expectations, due to slowing consumer demand for computers. That’s why the stock fell 12%. In its 2011 first quarter, which ended January 31, 2011, Hewlett’s earnings rose 16.8% to $3.0 billion from $2.6 billion a year earlier. Hewlett spent $2.3 billion on share buybacks during the quarter. Because of fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 27.1%, to $1.36 from $1.07. These figures exclude unusual items, such as costs to integrate recent acquisitions. On this basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus earnings estimate of $1.29 a share. Sales rose 3.6% in the latest quarter, to $32.3 billion from $31.2 billion. That was just short of the consensus sales estimate of $33 billion. Sales at the Personal Systems Group, which accounts for 32% of Hewlett’s total sales, fell 1.3%. That’s because an 11% jump in sales to businesses failed to offset a 12% drop in…