By Marek Fuchs
Is Hewlett Packard (HPQ) one giant malfunction?

The media are certainly abuzz with brusque and condemning assessments of HP's second quarter, due to be reported after market close Wednesday. Forbes calls HP’s prospects “poor,” The Associated Press trots out the word “sag” and All Things D says that, strictly speaking, results are going to stink.
The live audio webcast of HP’s conference call hasn’t been declared dead on arrival – but you get the point.
Upside surprises
Here’s the deal, though. HP surprised to the upside last quarter. In fact, it has surprised to the upside the past three quarters. Their earnings and conference calls were – relative to the coverage going into the earnings – quite well received.
Should we expect the same contortion here?
Make no mistake about it: HP is not ascendant. FactSet is expecting 81 cents per share on revenue of $28 billion, both marked declines from last year’s second quarter. For congenitally troubled computer makers such as HP
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