Arik Hesseldahl

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HP Beats the Street, but Guidance for 2012 Is Weak

Hewlett-Packard managed to maintain its long-running streak of beating the expectations of Wall Street analysts — now 26 of the last 27 quarters — with an earnings report that bested the consensus by four cents.

Earnings per share were $1.17, versus the consensus of $1.13, on sales of $32.3 billion, also slightly ahead of the consensus.

However, the guidance looks weak. HP said it sees fiscal year 2012 earnings coming in at at least $4, well below the consensus of $4.56, and not really even in the “just right” territory that I wrote about this morning.

“We need to get back to the business fundamentals in fiscal 2012, including making prudent investments in the business and driving more consistent execution,” CEO Meg Whitman said in a statement.

HP shares took a beating today, but so did the rest of the market. HP closed down more than 4 percent at $28.84. The shares are down more than 36 percent since the start of the year.

Here’s the full earnings news release:

PALO ALTO, CA–(Marketwire -11/21/11)- HP

Fiscal 2011 non-GAAP net revenue of $127.4 billion, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $4.88 and free cash flow of $9.1 billion grew 1%, 7% and 8%, respectively, over the prior year

Fiscal 2011 GAAP net revenue of $127.2 billion, GAAP diluted earnings per share of $3.32 and cash flow from operations of $12.6 billion

Fourth quarter non-GAAP net revenue of $32.3 billion, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.17 and free cash flow of $1.2 billion were down 3%, 12% and 43%, respectively, from the prior-year quarter

Fourth quarter GAAP net revenue of $32.1 billion, GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.12 and cash flow from operations of $2.4 billion

HP today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and full fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2011.

“HP has a great opportunity to build on our strong hardware, software, and services franchises with leading market positions, customer relationships, and intellectual property,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. “We need to get back to the business fundamentals in fiscal 2012, including making prudent investments in the business and driving more consistent execution.”

“While FY11 proved to be a challenging year, we grew non-GAAP EPS 7% and generated $12.6 billion in cash flow from operations,” said Cathie Lesjak, HP executive vice president and chief financial officer. “We’re remaining cautious heading into FY12 but are focused on delivering our earnings outlook and driving shareholder value.”

Earnings highlights

—————— —————————— ————————–
Q4 FY11 Q4 FY10 Y/Y FY11 FY10 Y/Y
—————— —————————— ————————–
GAAP net revenue
($B) $ 32.1 $ 33.3 (3%) $127.2 $126.0 1%
—————— —————————— ————————–
GAAP operating
margin 2.5% 9.9% (7.4 pts) 7.6% 9.1% (1.5 pts)
—————— —————————— ————————–
GAAP net earnings
($B) $ 0.2 $ 2.5 (91%) $ 7.1 $ 8.8 (19%)
—————— —————————— ————————–
GAAP diluted EPS $ 0.12 $ 1.10 (89%) $ 3.32 $ 3.69 (10%)
—————— —————————— ————————–
Non-GAAP net
revenue ($) $ 32.3 $ 33.3 (3%) $127.4 $126.0 1%
—————— —————————— ————————–
Non-GAAP operating
margin 9.7% 12.0% (2.3 pts) 10.8% 11.4% (0.6 pts)
—————— —————————— ————————–
Non-GAAP net
earnings ($B) $ 2.4 $ 3.1 (23%) $ 10.4 $ 10.9 (4%)
—————— —————————— ————————–
Non-GAAP diluted
EPS $ 1.17 $ 1.33 (12%) $ 4.88 $ 4.58 7%
—————— —————————— ————————–

Information about HP’s use of non-GAAP financial information is provided under “Use of non-GAAP financial information” below. Unless otherwise specified, all revenue amounts below are calculated on a GAAP basis.

Full year fiscal 2011
GAAP net revenue for the full fiscal year 2011 was $127.2 billion, up 1% compared with the prior year or down 1% when adjusted for the effects of currency. GAAP operating profit was $9.7 billion, and GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $3.32, down 10% from the prior year.

Non-GAAP net revenue for the full fiscal year 2011 was $127.4 billion, up 1% compared with the prior year or down 1% when adjusted for the effects of currency. Non-GAAP operating profit was $13.8 billion, and non-GAAP diluted EPS was $4.88, up 7% from the prior year.

Fiscal 2011 non-GAAP net revenue includes an additional $0.2 billion of revenue resulting from the exclusion of contra revenue associated with sales incentive programs implemented in the fourth quarter in connection with the wind down of HP’s webOS device business, net of fourth quarter webOS device revenue. Non-GAAP earnings and operating profit information excludes after-tax costs of $3.3 billion, or $1.56 per diluted share, related to the wind down of HP’s webOS device business, impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets, amortization of purchased intangible assets, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

Fourth fiscal quarter 2011
For the quarter, GAAP net revenue of $32.1 billion was down 3% from the prior-year period. Non-GAAP net revenue of $32.3 billion was down 3% from the prior-year period as reported and down 6% when adjusted for the effects of currency.

GAAP diluted EPS was $0.12, down 89% from the prior-year period. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.17, down 12% from the prior-year period.

Fourth quarter non-GAAP net revenue includes an additional $0.2 billion of revenue resulting from the exclusion of contra revenue associated with sales incentive programs implemented in connection with the wind down of HP’s webOS device business, net of webOS device revenue for the period. Fourth quarter non-GAAP earnings information excludes after-tax costs of $2.1 billion, or $1.05 per diluted share, related to the wind down of HP’s webOS device business, impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets, amortization of purchased intangible assets, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

Fourth fiscal quarter 2011 trends and regional performance
In the Americas, fourth quarter GAAP net revenue was $14.5 billion, down 4% year over year and down 5% when adjusted for the effects of currency. Non-GAAP net revenue in the Americas was $14.6 billion, down 3% year over year and down 4% when adjusted for the effects of currency.

Europe, the Middle East and Africa GAAP revenue of $11.7 billion was down 6% year over year and down 10% when adjusted for the effects of currency. GAAP revenue in Asia Pacific was $6.0 billion, representing a 3% increase year over year, and down 4% when adjusted for the effects of currency.

GAAP revenue from outside of the United States in the fourth quarter accounted for 65% of total HP revenue. BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) generated revenue of $3.8 billion, up 9% over the year-ago period, for 12% of total HP revenue.

Revenue in HP’s commercial businesses declined 2% year over year. Revenue in HP’s consumer businesses, within PSG and IPG, was collectively down 9% year over year.

Fourth fiscal quarter 2011 business group results

Services revenue of $9.3 billion grew 2% year over year with a 12.8% operating margin. Technology Services and Application Services revenue grew 3% and 2%, respectively, while IT Outsourcing revenue grew 1% and Business Process Outsourcing revenue declined 2%.

Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking (ESSN) revenue declined 4% year over year with a 13.0% operating margin. Networking revenue was up 5%, Industry Standard Servers revenue was down 4%, Business Critical Systems revenue was down 23%, and Storage revenue was up 4%.

HP Software revenue grew 28% year over year with a 27.7% operating margin. HP Software revenue was driven by revenue growth in licenses and services of 33% and 36%, respectively.

Personal Systems Group (PSG) revenue declined 2% year over year with a 5.7% operating margin. Commercial client revenue grew 5%, and Consumer client revenue declined 9%. Total units were up 2% with 5% growth in desktop units and 1% growth in notebook units.

Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) revenue declined 10% year over year with a 12.8% operating margin. Commercial revenue was up 4% year over year with commercial printer hardware units up 5%. Consumer printer hardware revenue was down 8% year over year with an 8% decline in units.

Financial Services revenue grew 18% year over year driven by double-digit growth in both lease volume and portfolio assets. The business delivered a 10.3% operating margin.

Asset management
HP generated $2.4 billion in cash flow from operations in the fourth quarter. Inventory ended the quarter at $7.5 billion, with days of inventory up 4 days year over year to 27 days. Accounts receivable of $18.2 billion was up 1 day year over year to 51 days. Accounts payable ended the quarter at $14.8 billion, flat from the prior-year period at 52 days. HP’s dividend payment of $0.12 per share in the fourth quarter resulted in cash usage of $239 million. HP also utilized $500 million of cash during the quarter to repurchase approximately 17 million shares of common stock in the open market. HP exited the quarter with $8.1 billion in gross cash.

Outlook
For the first quarter of fiscal 2012, HP estimates non-GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $0.83 to $0.86, and GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $0.61 to $0.64.

First quarter fiscal 2012 non-GAAP diluted EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $0.22 per share, related primarily to the amortization and impairment of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

HP expects full year fiscal 2012 non-GAAP diluted EPS of at least $4.00 and GAAP diluted EPS of approximately $3.20.

Full year fiscal 2012 non-GAAP diluted EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $0.80 per share, related primarily to the amortization and impairment of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

In order to more effectively manage HP as one company and align its guidance policy with its long-term objective of delivering profitable growth, HP will only be providing a quarterly and annual earnings per share outlook. The company believes that earnings per share is a better indicator of successful execution across its various business levers. HP remains committed to high levels of disclosure and transparency, including general commentary on its expectations relating to future revenue and business segment performance, and will continue to provide detailed segment-level financial performance data for completed fiscal periods.

More information on HP’s quarterly earnings, including additional financial analysis and an earnings overview presentation, is available on HP’s Investor Relations website at www.hp.com/investor/home.

HP’s Q4 FY11 earnings conference call is accessible via an audio webcast at www.hp.com/investor/2011q4webcast.

About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.

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