Hewlett-Packard Earnings Out Early, the Turnaround Remains Elusive -- CONFIRMED

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) may have released its earnings early, on accident — or via a leak. Bloomberg TV has reported that Hewlett-Packard has second-quarter earnings of $0.88 per share on revenues of $27.3 billion. Thomson Reuters had estimates of $0.88 earnings per share on $27.41 billion in revenues, and these compare to a year ago’s result of $0.87 EPS and $27.58 billion in revenue.

This was an early release that hit trader screens, but it was not on the wires, not on the site, and not in SEC filings at the time. Shortly after this posted, the official release came out and the summary is as follows:

• In addition to the existing restructuring plan, the company’s prior target of 34,000 positions being cut, the number of eliminated positions will increase by between 11,000 to 16,000.
• Second quarter non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share of $0.88, up 1% and versus the previously provided outlook of $0.85 to $0.89
• Second quarter net revenue of $27.3 billion, down 1% but flat on a constant currency basis
• Second quarter cash flow from operations of $3.0 billion — improved operating company net cash by $1.0 billion
• Returned $1.1 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases in the second quarter

The big issue here is that Meg Whitman’s turnaround plan has been talked about not taking shape until 2016. That is another eighteen months, or at least that is just the start of it being realized.

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Hewlett-Packard shares fell initially on the news by more than 2%, and at 3:48 p.m. EST the stock was down by 1.6% at $32.00. Its 52-week range is $20.25 to $33.90, and the consensus analyst price target is just above $34.50 without consideration of the earnings news. UPDATE: Shares closed down 2.3% at $31.78.

UPDATE: Guidance is as follows:

For the fiscal 2014 third quarter, HP estimates non-GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of $0.86 to $0.90 and GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of $0.59 to $0.63. Fiscal 2014 third quarter non-GAAP diluted net EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $0.27 per share, related primarily to the amortization of intangible assets and restructuring charges. For fiscal 2014, HP estimates non-GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of $3.63 to $3.75 and GAAP diluted net EPS to be in the range of $2.68 to $2.80. Fiscal 2014 non-GAAP diluted net EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $0.95 per share, related primarily to the amortization of intangible assets and restructuring charges.

The real question is just how much of a turn we can expect in the turnaround. The world has gone mobile for computing, and HP is not exactly the go-to brand at all when it comes to smartphones and tablets. Notebooks and PCs are still not hot, and that means that printers, monitors, and other peripherals are hard to sell. That leaves it as an IT brand. As a reminder, HP decided not to spin off its PC unit with the explanation that it was going to be too costly to do so — not very comforting.