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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (37393)	9/22/2000 11:19:56 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Hewlett-Packard comfortable with estimates (UPDATE: recasts, adds details on Fiorina, buyback, stock price) NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's No. 3 computer maker, on Friday said President and Chief Executive Carly Fiorina had added the post of chairman, becoming the first woman to hold all three top jobs at a major technology company. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard also announced a $1 billion stock buyback, said it was comfortable with analysts' consensus third-quarter earnings estimate of $1.03 per share, and expressed confidence that it would meet revenue growth targets of 15 percent. The announcements came as many technology stocks were beaten down following a warning on revenues from bellwether Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - news). Shares of Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HWP - news) were off $1-1/8 to $98-13/16 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange. As chairman, Fiorina, 46, succeeds Richard Hackborn, a board member who has been serving as non-executive chairman. She is one of just a few women at the helm of a Fortune 500 company. ``This appointment is a strong vote of confidence in Carly's leadership and the direction she has set for the company over the past 14 months,'' Hackborn said. ``Under her stewardship, the company is now poised for accelerating growth.'' Hackborn remains a member of the board. In the buyback, shares will be purchased in the open market or in private transactions from time to time depending on market conditions. ``HP's strong cash flow enables us to accelerate share repurchases while we continue to make investments required to fuel our growth in the Internet area,'' Chief Financial Officer Robert Wayman said in a statement. The repurchase plan is in addition to an continuing buyback, previously announced, to offset dilution from employee stock plans. Hewlett-Packard has about 988.7 million shares outstanding, according to Standard & Poor's MarketScope. The company reported earnings of 75 cents a share in the 1999 third quarter. The consensus forecast for the 2000 third quarter represents a jump of more than 33 percent from a year earlier.