Hewlett-Packard second-quarter profit rose 51 per cent as the company won market share from its biggest rival while benefitting from higher revenue and lower costs.
The results released today contrasted with the gloomy forecast Dell delivered last week. The higher-than-expected profit comes 14 months after Mark Hurd joined the company as chief executive under a mandate to cut costs and boost stagnant revenues.
For the three months ended April 30th, HP earned $1.46 billion, or 51 cents a share, compared with $966 million, or 33 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Sales rose 5 per cent to $22.6 billion from $21.6 billion last year. Revenue would have risen by 8 per cent if it weren't for the effects of foreign exchange rates, HP said.
Excluding one-time expenses, the company earned $1.6 billion, or 54 cents per share, compared with a profit of $1.1 billion, or 37 cents per share, in the same period last year.
On that basis, which does not comply with generally accepted accounting principles, HP beat Wall Street expectations. Analysts were expecting the company to earn 49 cents a share on sales of $22.6 billion, according to a Thomson Financial survey.
Shares of HP gained almost 4 percent after the results were announced.