Stock Pick-Hewlett-Packard

February 20, 2008

In the midst of trouble economy of US, Hewlett-Packard has reported a strong set of quarterly numbers above Wall Street's expectations. The company announced its quarterly result yesterday. The company reported a strong healthy jump in net revenue of 13% to $28.5 billion, ahead of the $27.6 billion Wall Street expectation for its first quarter, which ended in January. The company reported strong gains in sales and earnings for its fiscal first quarter.

Looking from technical as well as fundamental point of view, Hewlett-Packard gives strong buy signal. The mid term and long term perspective of this stock looks quite great and certainly it is good stock pick for stock investing.

The company also issued revenue and profit guidance for its second quarter and full fiscal year that topped analysts' consensus estimates.

The company earned $2.1 billion, or 80 cents per share, up 38% from a year ago. Excluding certain one-time items, the company reported a profit of 86 cents per share, well ahead of analysts' forecasts of 81 cents per share.

The company also reported it expects second-quarter sales to be in the range of $27.7 billion to $27.9 billion, versus the $27.4 billion. For the full year, the company’s revenue should be between $113.5 billion and $114 billion, surpassing Wall Street's expectation of $111.7 billion.

The company said most of its revenue came from outside the United States. Revenue from emerging markets Brazil, Russia, China and India grew 35% from a year ago.

The company is expecting profit for second quarter, excluding charges, of 83 cents to 84 cents a share, slightly higher than the 82 cents per share that analysts were predicting. The company is also expecting for the full year, profits should come in at a range of $3.50 to $3.54 a share, much higher than analysis’s expectation of $3.36 per share.