The maker of expensive printer ink, HP, reported a quarterly revenue that thrashed analysts’ estimates, thanks to growth in its systems business that sells notebooks and desktops and the acquisition of Samsung’s printer business.
The personal systems business, which accounts for more than 60 per cent of HP total revenue, rose 11 percent to $10.06 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $9.78 billion.
The company had the second position in worldwide PC shipments in the third quarter with a 22.8 percent market share, down from 23.9 percent in the preceding quarter, according to research firm International Data Corp’s data.
HP said revenue from its printing business rose 9.1 percent to $5.30 billion, slightly short of analysts’ estimate of $5.31 billion.
The company completed the acquisition of Samsung printer business for $1.05 billion in November 2017 as a part of its efforts to strengthen the sluggish printer and copier business.
HP said, in a post-earnings call with analysts, it has not considered any impact from unannounced tariffs or any significant demand changes that may result from an increase in geopolitical uncertainties. The outfit said it would consider price increases to respond to tariffs.
“We are working through a variety of mitigation items on the tariffs, pricing included to be one of the ways we mitigate”, said Chief Financial Officer Steve Fieler during the call. It’s not clear what this means, but then it’s never clear what IT companies mean.
The company forecast current-quarter adjusted profit of 50 cents to 53 cents per share. Analysts expected a profit of 52 cents per share.
Net earnings rose to $1.45 billion in the fourth quarter from $660 million a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned 54 cents per share, in line with average analyst estimates.
The company said its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and profit exclude after-tax adjustments of $586 million, related to restructuring and other charges and acquisition-related charges.
Net revenue rose 10.3 percent $15.37 billion. Analysts on an average had expected revenue of $15.1 billion.
