New HP CEO Gets to Witness a Q4 Beat

If newly installed HP CEO Léo Apotheker was looking for something to distract investors from his role in the Oracle-SAP legal tussle, he couldn’t have hoped for better than his company’s latest financials.

Posting fourth quarter earnings after market close today, HP reported per-share earnings of $1.33 on revenue of $33.3 billion.

The Street had been looking for $1.27 on revenue of $32.7 billion.

“HP proved once again that it is able to execute given its market strengths and technology leadership,” Apotheker said in an earnings release. “I have seen firsthand that we have talented people who are focused on delivering value for our customers. Our market opportunity is vast, and I am confident that we will extend our leadership into the future.”

For the current quarter, HP says it expects revenue of roughly $32.8 billion to $33 billion, and earnings-per-share of $1.28 a share to $1.30 a share. The company’s shares are trading up about 1 percent after hours.

Discussing HP’s performance during an earnings call Monday afternoon, Apotheker didn’t have much to say about his plans for the company’s strategic direction. Evidently, he still needs time to process all the information gathered during the “listening tour” with which he began his tenure as CEO (and escaped testifying at the Oracle-SAP trial). “It’s a bit early for me to discussoverall strategy,” he said. “I need to spend more time digging into our technology and meeting with customers and employees.” That said, he did seem confident that HP will continue to do well into 2011. “It is clear that we are winning in the market,” he said. “We have strong momentum going into next year.”