4Q Income

The largest PC and printer manufacturer HP Inc. reported 4Q revenue, which surpassed Wall Street's estimates. The company also provided a profit forecast for the first quarter that was better than analysts expected.

On Tuesday, the shares of HP Inc. (HPQ), which has increased by 5.84% since the beginning of the year and by 19% in the last month, rose sharply after the close of trading.

The company reported the results of the 4th quarter of the 2020 fiscal year ending on 31 October, which surpassed the analytical averages as consumer demand for notebooks increased due to the shift to remote work and training during the COVID-19 pandemic.

HP earnings per share were $0.62, which is $0.10 above the analyst estimate of $0.52. Quarterly earnings were 1% lower than in the same quarter last year, at $15.3 billion, but also surpassed analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. Revenue from HP's largest division, Personal Systems, which includes notebooks and desktops, was $10.4 billion.

Commenting on the report, HP CEO Enrique Lores highlighted the company's restructuring efforts, which will lead to lower costs and reduced staff, which should result in higher profits.

The CEO of HP Enrique Lores said: "We are very optimistic about the direction in which the company will develop in the next quarters and years".

The trend in notebook sales on Tuesday was reported by HP's competitor, Dell (DELL), which also published earnings per share for the 3rd quarter of the year of $2.03 against an analytical forecast of $1.40 and earnings per share of $23.5 billion against an estimate of $21.85 billion. Sales of Dell consumer devices, including PCs, increased by 14% over the same period last year.

HP forecasts

HP management said that it expects earnings per share for the current first quarter to range from $0.64 to $0.70, while the analysts average estimates are $0.54.

The company expects sales of products for data centres to be lower in Q1 as well.

The CFO of HP Marie Myers also said: "The company is facing a shortage of some components, in particular chips and display panels, which could negatively impact shipments in the 1st quarter".