Investopedia: Worries About Tomorrow Sink Hewlett-Packard Today

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) is another one of those large well-known tech companies that just cannot get much love anymore. Even though the growth outlook here is not very good, the valuation seems to assume a slide to irrelevance. That puts HP in the same crowd as companies like Dell (Nasdaq:DELL), Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO), Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) and Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) - companies that really have yet to convince the Street that there is a workable plan for growth and a reason to own the stock. 


The Second Quarter Wasn't That Bad
The worries about HP's guidance will almost certainly overshadow a decent quarter for the company. Sales rose 3% (1% on a constant currency basis), and actually surpassed estimates. The enterprise, storage and networking segment grew 15%, software grew 17% and imaging and printing grew 5%. That helped to offset a sluggish result in services (up 2%) and a 5% decline in the PC business.

Profitability was also pretty solid in the fiscal second quarter. The gross margin rose 100 basis points, and while the company lost some of that momentum through the operating items, operating income still grew 3.8% and the company reported a small increase in margin. Not surprisingly, software, services and printing were margin leaders, while the PC business was a drag. 



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