H-P Riding Hurd

Updated from 2:23 p.m.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) surged Tuesday after tapping NCR (NCR) chief Mark Hurd to replace the ousted Carly Fiorina.

The selection, confirmed by H-P after Tuesday's market close following a series of midday news reports, marks a rapid end to H-P's high-profile executive search after less than two months. Word of the decision sent NCR shares plunging 17% and H-P up 9%.

"Mark came to our attention because of his strong execution skills, his proven ability to lead top performing teams and his track record in driving shareholder value," Chairman Patricia Dunn said. "He demonstrated these skills by turning around NCR, which, while smaller than HP, is a complex organization with multiple business segments."

Hurd was first cited as the prime candidate on Monday by Business Week Online. The Wall Street Journal followed on Tuesday by reporting that Hurd's selection was final and that a formal announcement would be made later. At midafternoon NCR joined the fray, saying Hurd "has resigned from NCR, effective immediately, to accept a position with a large global technology company."

At NCR, Hurd oversaw a diverse product line encompassing data warehousing, ATM machines and retail store automation. Although much larger than NCR, H-P will offer Hurd the chance to oversee a broad array of products ranging from servers and workstations to services and printers.

He will also be charged with making hard decisions about where to take H-P, which has found itself pinched on the low end of the information technology hardware business by Dell (DELL) and on the high end by IBM (IBM). Fiorina found herself unemployed when it became clear the company had failed to gain ground on either end.

Hurd worked at NCR for 25 years, taking the chief executive position two years ago March. Before that he served as president and chief operating officer. During his time as CEO, NCR's stock rose four-fold.

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