Hewlett-PackardJustin Sullivan
Hewlett-Packard Co. on Tuesday forecast revenue and earnings for fiscal 2011 above Wall Street's expectations, as it prepares to name a new chief executive to succeed Mark Hurd.
The company forecast earnings, excluding items, for fiscal 2011 will rise 12 per cent to 14 per cent to $5.05 (U.S.) to $5.15 a share on revenue of $131.5-billion to $133.5-billion.
Wall Street is targeting earnings of $4.99 a share on revenue of $131.4-billion for the next fiscal year, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The world's largest technology company by revenue has so far not announced a new CEO, despite hopes among investors it would do so at its annual analysts conference on Tuesday.
In the leadership vacuum that ensued following Mr. Hurd's controversial ouster, shareholders have grumbled about HP's spending spree on acquisitions, and questioned its growth strategy in the face of newly aggressive rivals from International Business Machines Corp. to Oracle Corp.
Its shares have fallen about 10 per cent since Mr. Hurd's departure on Aug. 6. The company trades at just over nine times forward earnings, a discount to peers such as IBM and Cisco Systems Inc.
Shares of HP closed at $41.63 on the New York Stock Exchange and rose 1.3 per cent to $42.19 in extended trading.
Reuters