HP posts strong results amid signs of industry weakness

Posted May 17th 2007 1:45PM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)

Hewlett Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) reported strong results last night, however, it appears industry headwinds could slow down growth in the second half of 2007.

Laptop revenue grew 45%, with units up 61%
Desktop growth was up 9%
Ergo, the total personal computer business was up 24%

HP is growing 2.5x the market growth rate in the PC space, a sign of very good execution. Imaging and printing saw revenues up 6% and units up 11%, a deceleration in growth. Enterprise storage and services up a very respectable 8%.

HP continues to execute extraordinarily well while operating in very competitive industries. What was most promising regarding last night's call is that CEO Hurt is still highly confident that more cost savings can be found.

Entering the seasonally weak period for this sector, there is no need for investors to rush into HP's stock. "We will see what happens to unit growth and mix going forward," said Hurt during the call, suggesting he might be seeing signs of weakness in the economy. I'd wait for the weak seasonal period to end and then jump into HP's stock.

Tags: computer, desktop, earnings, hewlett packard, hewlett-packard, HewlettPackard, hpq, laptop