Hewlett-Packard Hanging Tough
Updated from 12:21 a.m. EDT
Investors will be closely monitoring
Hewlett-Packard's
second-quarter results after the market closes Tuesday to see whether the firm is living up to its reputation as a recession-buster.
The tech giant is seen as one of the tech firms best equipped to deal with the global economic slowdown. With sizable recurring revenue from services and a reputation for
, the company was one of
TheStreet.com
's
for 2009.
At least one analyst expects H-P to offer some upside for investors, even in an unforgiving economy.
"H-P's April-quarter results should provide further evidence of the company's earnings resiliency, despite macro-driven top-line weakness," wrote Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey, in a recent note. With demand levels still depressed, but not getting worse, Bailey expects H-P to reiterate its 2009 earnings guidance of $3.76 to $3.88.
Like other tech companies, however, H-P has been wrestling with a soft spending environment, although there have been
hints
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that it could reap the benefits of improving PC sales.
Intel
(INTC) - Get Intel Corporation Report
CEO Paul Otellini, for example, recently stated that the PC market
during the first quarter, and is returning to normal seasonal patterns.
Goldman Sachs' Bailey also feels that the PC turnaround has started.
"Our checks and preliminary data
from tech research firm IDC for the March quarter suggest that HP continues to gain share in PCs, which, on the margin, should be a relatively healthy area," he wrote. "The company also remains a share gainer in blade servers, and, to a lesser extent, in printers."
The analyst nonetheless expects a double-digit year-over-year revenue decline in printers, although he does foresee strength in H-P's services business.
H-P, thanks to its extensive PC business, has a greater
to consumer spending than its
IBM
, though buying services giant EDS did bolster H-P's enterprise strategy.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect the firm to post earnings of 86 cents a share and revenue of $27.42 billion, compared to 87 cents a share and $28.3 billion in the same period last year.
H-P executives are also expected to face questions about the rapidly changing competitive landscape during a conference call after the market close.
Oracle's
(ORCL) - Get Oracle Corporation Report
recent surprise
of
Sun Microsystems
(JAVA)
has sent shockwaves through the tech sectors, and is expected to herald a new wave of M&A and partnerships.
H-P shares were up 2.9% to to $36.75 in recent trading.
