Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) reported very decent quarterly results Tuesday after the market close. The world's currently-largest PC maker reported a net profit gain of $2.03 billion, up from the year-ago period gain of $1.78 billion on the back of a $28 billion quarter in sales.

The company's EPS was 86 cents, beating analyst estimates of 84 cents. In news that was not shocking, 68% of HP's sales were from overseas markets, although that was a drop of 2% from the Q2 period. HP, like many manufacturers, has its wings spread out so far in global markets that it was able to weather the U.S. market downturn.

HP guided its Q4 sales at over $30.2 billion, although CEO Mark Hurd indicated that his company's introduction of sleep laptop designs was making a splash worldwide. "You've got a lot of places around the planet where the only access to the digital content out there is through a notebook and a wireless card ... we have a significant opportunity.''

He's right. How many households are transforming to a multi-notebook, wireless environment without a desktop in sight? In addition to that, HP's global finesse and product mix is continuing to beat competitor Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), even though Dell wants to change that.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is set to report Q3 earnings this Thursday at 5 p.m. EST, and the consensus estimates are stating some pretty lofty goals for the world's largest tech company to hit. Right now, Wall Street has stapled a $0.65 EPS figure on CEO Mark Hurd's forehead, which represents a 20% YoY gain for the PC and printer manufacturer and marketer. Can it hit this looming and large target Thursday? Stay tuned to BloggingStocks Thursday afternoon and you'll see it liveblogged right here, along with a bunch of hopefully meaty analyst Q&A as well.

Revenues are expected to be in the range of $23.9 billion to $24.2 billion for the quarter. If HP keeps inline with the growth that many industry pundits expect, it will crack the $100 billion in sales per fiscal year barrier very soon. With all the internal activity HP has generated in the last year (like the Mercury Interactive acquisition), year-ago quarter comps are a little tricky (if even possible), but one thing is clear: HP is doing way more right things under CEO Hurd than wrong things.

In fact, every time I hear Hurd speak on quarterly conference calls, the man seems to have the perfect blend of financial, operational and sales savvy that a $100 billion CEO should have. He exudes cool confidence and you can tell he has all his plays under his jacket at all times, though he does not reveal most of them. I'm quite of the belief that he is the right person to lead HP, and from recent quarterly financial results and guidance, I stand by that opinion. We'll see if Hurd is further vindicated this Thursday, so be sure and check back at 5 p.m. right here.