Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) is set to release Q2 earnings this Wednesday at 2pm PDT. The computing and services giant should have all its marbles in a row to have a very good Q2 after beating up on competitor Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) at the conclusion of 2006 and into 2007. What are the estimates? How about a $0.69 EPS figure, roughly the same estimate from the year-ago quarter? No losses here, although it will be interesting to see which parts of the company have contributed to the company's bottom line and which are dragging (if any). But with HP just bumping an already rosy outlook for Q2, the company may be sitting on cloud nine come Wednesday.

HP's current $121 billion market cap speaks highly of the company's effort to return aggressively to profitability, which has happened pretty widely under current CEO Mark Hurd. Although former CEO Carly Fiorina is receiving some of the credit for setting up some of the strategy that has enabled HP to change from a marketing company not making much headway into an operational and customer company that is, Hurd has executed on his expertise (logistics and operations) to cut costs where needed and partner aggressively with its customers (and sell hard) to ensure the company is as good as what it currently looks like.

At the same time, internal politics, spying and strife at HP seems to have mostly blown over, and the company hasn't lost focus and continues to grow at a very respectable rate. After overtaking Dell last year as the largest computer manufacturer in the world, HP became larger than IBM and claimed stake as the largest tech company in the world -- for now. Whether it remains there (or even blows past it) is certainly in Hurd's hands, but only future quarters will tell the tale. For now, HP is sitting pretty, and that position should remain come Wednesday, when I'll be liveblogging HP's Q2 conference call. Stay tuned!