HP Reports Sales Slightly Below Expectations For Q4

Hewlett-Packard Tuesday posted fourth quarter sales slightly below expectations with single-digit revenue declines in both its enterprise computing and services business for its fourth fiscal quarter ended Oct. 31.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP reported non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.06 on sales of $28.41 billion for the quarter. The Wall Street consensus was $1.06 per share on sales of $28.76 billion.

HP shares fell one percent, or 57 cents, to $37.09 in after-hours trading.

[Related: HP CEO Whitman Lays Out Transition Team Plan In Internal Memo]

HP said its enterprise group business was down four percent to $7.27 billion compared with $7.57 billion in the year-ago quarter.

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The company's enterprise services revenue, meanwhile, was down seven percent to $5.51 billion compared with $5.91 billion in the year-ago quarter.

The results come nearly two months after HP announced it is splitting into two publically traded Fortune 50 companies: a $57 billion enterprise computing business that will be known as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and a $57 billion personal systems and printing business that will be known as HP Inc.

Following the split, which is expected to be completed by the end of HP's fiscal year 2015, ending Oct. 31, 2015, HP shareholders will own shares of both HP Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise.

Despite the two percent sales drop for the period compared with the year-ago quarter, HP CEO Meg Whitman insisted the company's turnaround "continues on track."

"In FY14, we stabilized our revenue trajectory, strengthened our operations, showed strong financial discipline, and once again made innovation the cornerstone of our company," said Whitman in a prepared statement. "Our product roadmaps are the best they've been in years and our partners and customers believe in us. There's still a lot left to do, but our efforts to date, combined with the separation we announced in October, sets the stage for accelerated progress in FY15 and beyond."

Kelly Ireland, founder and CEO of CB Technologies, a Kirkland, Wash.-based HP Platinum partner, said she is more confident than ever that 2015 will be a breakout year for HP.

"We expect a really big growth year in 2015 due to all the product innovation that Meg has brought back to HP," said Ireland, who expects to double her HP sales over the next 18 months. "We see the product portfolio that HP is bringing to the market in 2015 not just beating the competition but seriously leapfrogging the competition. We see the turnaround accelerating in 2015. It is really exciting to see."

PUBLISHED NOV. 25, 2014