ADVFN Logo

We could not find any results for:
Make sure your spelling is correct or try broadening your search.

Trending Now

Toplists

It looks like you aren't logged in.
Click the button below to log in and view your recent history.

Hot Features

Registration Strip Icon for discussion Register to chat with like-minded investors on our interactive forums.

HPQ HP Inc

30.12
0.00 (0.00%)
Pre Market
Last Updated: 12:14:16
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type
HP Inc NYSE:HPQ NYSE Common Stock
  Price Change % Change Share Price High Price Low Price Open Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  0.00 0.00% 30.12 1,095 12:14:16

Laptop Sales Buoy HP and Dell -- WSJ

28/08/2020 8:02am

Dow Jones News


HP (NYSE:HPQ)
Historical Stock Chart


From Mar 2019 to Mar 2024

Click Here for more HP Charts.

Remote-work demand eases loss from office purchases, gives companies stock boost

By Maria Armental 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (August 28, 2020).

Hot demand for laptops as people work and learn remotely helped HP Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc. soften the hit from a slowdown in office-equipment spending during the coronavirus pandemic.

HP Thursday said laptop sales surged 30% in the July quarter from a year ago, helping the company limit its revenue drop to 2%, as it reported $14.29 billion in sales, surpassing Wall Street's projection of $13.34 billion. The decline was driven by the printer business, as well as lower sales of desktops and workstations, with companies investing less in office equipment as employees work from home.

Meanwhile, Dell said consumer revenue jumped 18% for the business that includes computer sales, while commercial-client sales slumped 11%. Overall revenue, much like for HP, fell 3% to $22.7 billion.

"We saw strength in the government sector and in education, with orders up 16% and 24%, respectively, as parents, teachers and school districts prepare for a new frontier in virtual learning," Dell Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said in a statement.

HP and fellow PC makers like Dell were expected to benefit from the demand surge during the pandemic. But the run on laptops has also created bottlenecks. Some school districts, scrambling to equip students and staff, have seen delayed shipments.

Both stocks were up more than 2% in after-hours trading after the companies posted results.

The pandemic also has spelled problems for the two tech companies from lower spending on in-office equipment. Dell saw sales of servers and data storage equipment fall, the company said, with customers shifting spending to facilitating remote work.

HP says its printing business -- smaller by revenue than the computer business but typically more lucrative -- saw sales fall to $3.93 billion, driven by lower sales of commercial printers and supplies.

The consumer printer market, though, was a bright spot, with people stuck at home buying devices. Chief Executive Enrique Lores said those sales should lift the printing business as people come back to buy more ink and other printing supplies.

Earlier this year, Mr. Lores warned the July quarter would be tougher than the preceding one for the company's printing business as corporate customers curtailed spending on office equipment. "We couldn't install many of the units that we had orders for," he said at an industry event in May,

On Thursday, Mr. Lores said supply-chain challenges the company encountered during the pandemic hurt printer sales early in the quarter, particularly on the consumer end. But, the CEO said, the consumer printing business that saw revenue increase 7% in the quarter should strengthen. In addition, he said, commercial printing sales, while still down, were improving and supply-chain problems had subsided.

And sales of printers, particularly commercial models, have dropped amid budget cuts and government lockdowns to help curb the spread of Covid-19. Shipment of industrial printers declined 46.8% in the most recent quarter, research firm International Data Corp. said.

Xerox Holdings Corp., which last year launched an unsuccessful hostile takeover bid for HP, saying the printing industry was decades overdue for consolidation, reported its sales in the most recent quarter fell by more than a third from a year earlier and that it expected its core printing business to remain challenged.

HP said it expects to end the financial year with a profit of $1.83 to $1.87 a share, or $2.16 to $2.20 a share on an adjusted basis. Analysts' projected $1.90 a share, or $2.11 a share as adjusted, according to FactSet.

Profit for the quarter ended July 31 fell 38% to $734 million, or 52 cents a share. On an adjusted basis, profit fell to 49 cents a share from 58 cents a share a year earlier. The results beat company and analysts' projections, according to FactSet.

Dell's profit dropped to $1.05 billion, or $1.37 a share. On an adjusted basis, profit fell to $1.92 a share from $2.15 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a loss of 18 cents a share, or an adjusted profit of $1.38 a share.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 28, 2020 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

1 Year HP Chart

1 Year HP Chart

1 Month HP Chart

1 Month HP Chart

Your Recent History

Delayed Upgrade Clock