Stocks rise on positive HP earnings forecast

Hewlett-Packard beat analysts’ projections Nov. 18 when the company released preliminary fourth quarter and year-end results that showed quarterly revenue up 19 percent and fiscal 2008 revenue up 13 percent.

The announcement, which came before the bell on Wall Street, sent HP’s stock soaring 15 percent in premarket trading and led an early morning rally that added 7.01 points to the S&P 500, 88.41 points to the Dow and .2 percent to the Nasdaq Composite Index, Bloomberg reported.

While HP plans to release its final results Nov. 24, the preliminary report showed fourth quarter earnings per share of 84 cents, up 4 percent from the year-ago period; and fiscal year net revenue up $14.1 billion to $118.4 billion.

“HP delivered another solid quarter as it continues to benefit from its global reach, diverse customer base, broad portfolio and numerous cost initiatives,” HP Chairman and CEO Mark Hurd said in the company release.

The results come at the end of a big year for the world’s largest PC maker, which announced in June that it would undertake a global reorganization of its Boise-based Imaging and Printing Group, and in August shed about 300 jobs at its inkjet facilities in Oregon and Washington and an undisclosed number of jobs at the Boise campus in August and September.

Completing its $13.9 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems in late August, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company announced in mid-September that integration with EDS would include cutting about 24,600 jobs from worldwide operations over the next three years.

Finally, in a cost-cutting measure announced late last week, HP announced that it would extend its usual holiday time off, requiring workers to take leave from Dec. 21, 2008 through Jan. 2, 2009.

“Our ability to execute in a challenging marketplace differentiates HP, enabling it to increase share, expand earnings and emerge from the current economic environment as a stronger force,” Hurd said.