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November 18, 2008, 10:06 am

Hewlett-Packard solid, Corning shattered

By Scott Moritz

It was a tale of two techs Tuesday. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) surprised Wall Street on Tuesday with a fourth-quarter earnings report that beat analysts’ profit and sales targets. HP shares soared nearly 14% in early trading.

Meanwhile, glass maker Corning (GLW) warned of a sales shortfall in the current quarter as demand for its flat-screen TV and computer panels drops faster than anticipated. Shares fell nearly 12%.

HP posted preliminary adjusted earnings of $1.03 a share, which compares with 84 cents in the year-ago quarter and beats analysts estimates by 3 cents. Sales for the quarter ended Oct. 31 were $33.6 billion, an 19% improvement from revenues of $28.3 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts were looking for sales of $33 billion, according to Thomson First Call.

The recent acquisition of IT service shop EDS so far has helped HP dodge the full impact of the impending recession. “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,” CEO Mark Hurd said in a statement.

Looking ahead, HP predicts pro forma profit of about 94 cents a share on sales of $32.25 billion in the first quarter ending in January. Analysts expected adjusted earnings of 93 cents a share on $33.7 billion in sales. HP says it will release its October quarter earnings Nov. 24.

Corning, however, continues to struggle with order cuts as flat-panels and big-screen TV inventories pile up. The company, the largest maker of liquid crystal display screens for televisions and computers, says fourth-quarter sales will fall below its guidance of $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion. It warned that profits will be at the low end or below its prior guidance of $0.20 to $0.28 a share. Corning did not offer revised financial targets.

I HAVE A DELL INSPIRON E1405 LAPTOP ,AND LOVE IT. BUTTTT “HP” IS CATCHING MY EYE WITH ALL THERE “TOUCH-SMART” COMPUTERS AND I LOVE THEM MUCH MORE THAN ANYTHING IVE SEEN YET!! THE ONLY DELL TO CATCH MY EYE WAS THE “XPS” ALL-IN-ONE WITH THE TOUCHPAD ON THE KEYBOARD +1 FOR DELL BUT NOT ENOUGH TO BUY IT . ILL BE BUYING A “TOUCH-SMART” LAPTOP OR DESKTOP !!
JUST PLAY WITH ONE , !I LOVE IT!

Posted By corey b, new york ,ny : November 22, 2008 8:15 pm

Jim you are ignorant. HP is probably the last great American IT company. IBM has sold off many of its divisions to foreign entities. I work for one of the largest companies in the world headquartered in the UK and we do business in over 100 countries. I rely extensively on HP servers and computers because HP is probably the only vendor that honors its warranty and supports its products in all 100 countries. I cannot get warranty support from Dell or Lenovo or Sun in many countries. HP maintains its headquarters in Palo Alto CA and has huge campuses in many US cities employing hundreds or even thousands at each of these campuses. HP also maintains many smaller operations throughout the world. You are a moron Jim.

Posted By Dave, Oakland, CA : November 19, 2008 1:32 am

I worked for HP in India as part of a global team. Whether by Indian Standards or by the standards of my peers in both US and Europe was I paid “slave labour” unless you consider americans are paid below line wages. These are businesses and being competitive in the market, showing shareholders value is the way to run it. The same way Asian markets were giving value for money, there will come a time when the same or better value for money will be got elsewhere like Romania and the truth is it is all ready happening. Eventualy it will all come full circle. Having said that, I can understand that its no consolation for people who loose thier livlihoods.

Posted By MC, Hyderabad, India : November 18, 2008 11:41 pm

To Jon Edowards of Boston, Mass
To Jim of chicago

HP was manufacturing overseas, employing people in other countries, since before 1976, which is when I first learned about the company.

Intel was manufacturing Pentium microprocessors overseas in 1997 – over ten years ago.

Other companies that have been manufacturing overseas for decades include IBM, Alcoa.

There is no way any proxy fight can “bring jobs back” because work has always moved around the world.

Posted By Jason Stoons, Austin TX : November 18, 2008 7:35 pm

I have had 4 IBM Thinkpad starting from 1998. The first 3 were excellent. The last, built by Lennovo is an absolute piece of crap.

Posted By Sam, Atlanta, Georgia : November 18, 2008 6:49 pm

Jim – If you want computer or printer equipment, Hp is no worse and most often not as bad as the other major vendors. Lenovo is an Asian company and IBM sold their personal systems business to a foreign company. Dell manufactures outside the US as well. I worked at Hp for 21 years. I left of my own accord. If you like laptops that catch fire, but all means dont buy Hp, seeing as they were the only one of the big 3 IT companies that didnt have this problem. Look it up.

Posted By Lynn, Nashua NH : November 18, 2008 5:12 pm

Why would shareholders force Hurd to resign when the stock has made a killing and the company is making record profits since he took over? I know Jon is not your real name, but you are still an idiot.

Posted By Steve, Boston, MA : November 18, 2008 2:31 pm

HP has crapped on the US worker by sending jobs overseas.

I’ll never buy anything from HP and I do my best to steer others from buying HP garbage.

Posted By jim – chicago : November 18, 2008 1:30 pm

To all institutional Investors-
Hp is going to be hit with a lawsuit and information is going to be given to the SEC regarding how they do business. There is also going to be a porxy fight to force Hurd to step down and bring back the Jobs that HP has shipped overseas and pays slave labor amounts to uthe employees.

Posted By Jon Edowards, Boston,Ma. : November 18, 2008 10:27 am
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