HP and HPE look to AI for future growth as legacy businesses cool
By Jon Swartz
HP CEO expects PC sales to rebound in the second half of the year and notes that AI will 'redefine what PCs can do'
HP Inc. continues to navigate a tough economy, with all eyes on artificial intelligence and a PC rebound later in the year.
The PC and printer giant (HPQ) on Tuesday reported fiscal second-quarter net earnings of $1.07 billion, or 80 cents a share, compared with net earnings of $1 billion, or 95 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. After stripping out costs, including restructuring charges, the company reported earnings of $1.07 a share, down from $1.10 a share a year ago.
Net revenue plunged 22% to $12.9 billion from $16.5 billion a year ago.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 76 cents a share on revenue of $13.07 billion.
"Our disciplined execution and strong innovation in a tough macro environment allowed us to deliver non-GAAP EPS at the high end of our target in [the second quarter]," HP Chief Executive Enrique Lores said in an interview, adding that PC sales should rebound in the second half of the year and into 2024.
Lores spotlighted AI as a "tremendous refresh opportunity" to "redefine what PCs can do," such enabling PC owners to order up deep spreadsheet analysis via the cloud without compromising security.
HP's personal-systems sales, which include PCs and laptops, hauled in $8.2 billion, but plunged 29% from the same quarter a year ago. The performance fell short of FactSet analyst estimates of $8.4 billion.
Printing revenue dipped again by 5% from a year ago, to $4.7 billion.
HP offered strong third-quarter adjusted earnings guidance of between 81 cents and 91 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expect on average 85 cents a share.
HP's stock was initially flat off the quarterly results in extended trading Wednesday before falling 5%.
"While the PC industry has had a difficult run in 2023, HP is showing a bit of encouragement with its increase in guidance and its reduced inventory," Daniel Newman, principal analyst at Futurum Research, said in an email.
Shares of HP have improved 15% so far this year, while the S&P 500 is up 9.5%.
Meanwhile, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE) posted fiscal second-quarter net earnings of $418 million, or 32 cents a share, compared with net earnings of $250 million, or 19 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings were 52 cents a share.
Net revenue was $6.97 billion, up 4% from $6.7 billion a year ago.
"It was a solid quarter as we are shifting to higher-margin revenue streams in AI [up 18% year over year to $840 million] and the Intelligent Edge segment [$1.3 billion]," HPE Chief Financial Officer Tarek Robbiati said in an interview.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected, on average, net earnings of 49 cents a share on revenue of $7.3 billion.
HPE offered third-quarter revenue guidance of $6.7 billion to $7.2 billion, at the low end of FactSet projections of $7.2 billion. HP's forecast of third-quarter earnings of between 44 cents and 48 cents a share was in line with FactSet projections of 46 cents a share.
The revenue shortfall and guidance sent HPE shares down 5.6% in extended trading Wednesday. HPE's stock has dropped nearly 3% so far this year.
-Jon Swartz
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May 31, 2023 08:18 ET (12:18 GMT)
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