HP (HPQ) Reports 4Q With Good Results, But Guidance Falls Short

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Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings that beat Wall Street’s expectations giving way to a surge in share prices in after hours trading on Monday.

With new CEO Meg Whitman at the helm, HP reported In its first quarterly report with new chief executive Meg Whitman at the helm, the company reported net income that fell to $200 million, or 12 cents a share, down 91% compared with last year’s net income of $2.5 billion, or $1.10 a share. However, when adjusted to exclude one-time charges totaling $1.05 a share, and including after-tax costs related to the wind down of the company’s webOS device business, non-GAAP earnings came in at $1.17 a share, down 12% from last year’s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.33 a share. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.13 a share on revenue of $32.04 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

Non-GAAP net revenue fell 3% to $32.3 billion, compared with last year’s net revenue of $33.3 billion.

“HP has a great opportunity to build on our strong hardware, software, and services franchises with leading market positions, customer relationships, and intellectual property,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. “We need to get back to the business fundamentals in fiscal 2012, including making prudent investments in the business and driving more consistent execution.”

“While FY11 proved to be a challenging year, we grew non-GAAP EPS 7% and generated $12.6 billion in cash flow from operations,” said Cathie Lesjak, HP executive vice president and chief financial officer. “We’re remaining cautious heading into FY12 but are focused on delivering our earnings outlook and driving shareholder value.”

HP’s reported outlook for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, estimates non-GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $0.83 to $0.86, and GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $0.61 to $0.64.

HP expects full year fiscal 2012 non-GAAP diluted EPS of at least $4.00 and GAAP diluted EPS of approximately $3.20. Full year fiscal 2012 non-GAAP diluted EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $0.80 per share, related primarily to the amortization and impairment of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

Share of Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) were trading at 26.57, down 1.08% in the pre-market at 8:51 am ET on Tuesday.