Here s what we re keeping an eye on as HP releases its last earnings report before its scheduled split Nov. 1.
How did Hewlett-Packard s PC division do in the third quarter? Signs from elsewhere point to not so well. Worldwide PC shipments fell in the previous quarter, according to Gartner. What s more, the party-pooper research firm also lowered its forecast for PC sales growth — from 2.8 percent to 1.4 percent — in 2015 compared to 2014. But wait, there s even more: Microsoft s Windows 10, which was released in late July, isn t expected to be much help to the industry.
In the second quarter, HP s PC revenue fell 5 percent year over year, while printer sales fell 7 percent. Analysts have low expectations about the company s third-quarter performance in PCs and printers, with Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White telling CNBC that both areas… are being commoditized, and saying PCs had a rough July. The two businesses will be combined into a standalone company when HP splits in two.
HP s other divisions didn t fare so well last quarter, either. The divisions comprising its enterprise group, which will make up the other company post-split, all saw drops in revenue. HP s overall revenue has dropped in 14 of the last 15 quarters, the Wall Street Journal notes.
Other things to watch include global currency issues, and what the company is going to do to offset the billions of dollars in costs it expects to incur as part of its split. At least one analyst predicted that those expenses will be related to tens of thousands of coming layoffs — which HP may address in its conference call today after the markets close.
Analysts expect the Palo Alto company to post third-quarter profit of 85 cents a share on revenue of $25.4 billion.
Photo: The HP sign at the corner of Page Mill Road and Hanover Street at the company s Palo Alto headquarters on Aug. 19, 2011. (Jim Gensheimer/Mercury News)
