Hewlett-Packard is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings after the markets close today. The big focus: the future, specifically the company s pending breakup.
HP announced in October that it would split its PC and printer division from its business hardware and services unit by the end of 2015. Analyst and investor reaction was mostly positive, with the company s shares rising almost 5 percent after the news. The Silicon Valley giant s shares are up about 35 percent for the year.
But as the Mercury News wrote, some big questions remain. There s been speculation that the business services unit might be involved in a merger with EMC. There s also been talk that the PC-printer division could be put up for sale, perhaps to Dell or Lenovo — so what the company says today about the PC market will be key.
HPQ s PC segment has seen surprisingly good growth, given industry unit declines, according to analyst Sherri Scribner of Deutsche Bank.
While some analysts don t expect HP to give too much insight into its plans for the split, others are hoping it will.
The breakup announcement is the first step, Daniel Ives at FBR Capital Markets reportedly said. Now, investors want more clarity around the next steps going forward for this new reshuffled management team to steer Hewlett-Packard back to greener pastures, although this remains an Everest-like challenge in our opinion.
Analysts on average expect earnings of $1.06 per share, up nearly 5 percent from the year-ago period, on $28.7 billion in revenue.
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