HP's shares plunge to 10-year low

An analyst day at the company's headquarters in Northern California opened with HP boss Meg Whitman outlining her vision for reviving HP and projecting earnings for the year that fell far short of previous expectations.

HP shares plunged 12.96% after her address, to end at $14.91 on the New York Stock Exchange, the lowest since November 2002.

"HP has a powerful set of assets, a culture of engineering innovation and is a trusted brand," Whitman said in a release.

"Now, we have to focus on bringing our assets together to deliver for our customers, employees and shareholders."

Whitman told analysts that HP made progress in stabilising the business in the past year, which has been thrown off balance by changes in leadership. She said that a foundation was laid for a "multi-year turnaround."

HP said its focus includes capitalising on trends in data security and shifting computing into the Internet "cloud."

HP is on track to complete its restructuring by the end of 2014 and its revenue would grow in line with the US gross domestic product by 2016, according to Whitman.

HP anticipated revenue for fiscal 2013 to decline during what Whitman referred to as a "fix and build year."

The company said its profit for the year would be between $3.40 and $3.60 a share, far below analyst expectations of $4.18 a share.

The market reaction was brutal and Brian White of Topeka Capital markets called the new outlook a "bomb".

"Given this weak outlook, the stock is selling off, but we believe there remains more downside potential," White said, pointing out that HP's key segment in PCs and printers faces "negative secular trends."

Despite Whitman's turnaround efforts, Amit Daryanani at RBC Capital Markers said that "in the near-term, things will get more challenging before they get better."

HP announced last month that will cut 29,000 jobs under a major restructuring programme. The cuts are part of an effort by Whitman, who took the reins at HP a year ago, to turn the giant company around.

HP launched a business-oriented tablet computer powered with new Windows 8 software by Microsoft earlier this week. The ElitePad 900 would be available in the United States in January but as yet no pricing details have been revealed.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge