HP to take record quarterly loss

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By PETER SVENSSON

NEW YORK (AP) - Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) on Wednesday said that it will take a massive charge against its earnings for the latest quarter, leading to a record loss of nearly $9 billion.

The charge is the result of a writedown of the value of its services business, reflecting that the company overpaid for when it bought Electronic Data Systems in 2008 for $14 billion.

HP said it will take an $8 billion charge for the reduced value of Enterprise Services in the quarter that ended in July. The division, which provides information technology and outsourcing services to corporations, has seen flat revenue for the last two years, and its operating profit has declined.

The Palo Alto, Calif. company said the charge and other accounting adjustments will lead to a loss of $4.31 to $4.49 per share. That works out to about $8.5 billion to $8.9 billion.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120808/DA0H9SBG1.html

[savannah43]

1. Judging from the performance of my new HP printer, all I can say is

GOOD!
I believe there is more to it than they're saying. Quality of their products--down, down, down.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Ex-CEO Carly Fiorina

just got appointed to a university board by VA gov. Bob McDonnell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carly_Fiorina

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1081206

Disclaimer: I own shares of HPQ. Great calculators. The stock? Not so much.

[progressivebydesign]

3. People need to read beyond the headline, but they won't. they took a write-down on a purchase.

they are taking a HUGE loss so that they can reap the tax benefits, but the media and the repukes will use it as a commentary on "obama's failed economy," when in fact it was a stupid fucking purchase decision, and probably some sort of scandal that will never be uncovered.

[SDjack]

4. It is a lesson in the evolution of businesses to watch HP, IMO,

a leading edge technology company in the 1980s have its CEOs and Directors migrate toward sales hucksters and business maintenance mechanics. Customer satisfaction and quality are in the toilette bowl. Now, the company is regarded as an average commodity producer. Probably too late to work its way back. Doomed to make commodities forever.

[Brother Buzz]

5. "When salespeople run tech giants it's over" - Steve Jobs