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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (40537)	12/6/2000 3:22:52 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Hewlett-Packard Confident of Forecast PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co.(NYSE:HWP - news) on Wednesday said it remains confident of meeting its forecasts for revenue growth in the current fiscal year, despite the likelihood of a slowdown in personal computer sales and the broader economy. The company, stung by criticism that it has failed to warn investors of developing problems before, stood by its forecast of between 15 percent and 17 percent sales growth for fiscal year 2001, and said that target can be met even if PC sales in the U.S. slump to single-digit growth. ``We saw the market softening. We have planned for the market to soften,'' Carly Fiorina, chairman and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard, told a meeting of investors and analysts. ``We're not backing off our guidance,'' she said, although she added that revenue growth in the current quarter was more likely to come in at ``the lower end of that range.'' Profit warnings from Apple Computer Inc. (NasdaqNM:AAPL - news) and from No 4 US personal computer maker Gateway Inc. (NYSE:GTW - news) have raised concerns about the strength of consumer demand for computers heading into next year, prompting a renewed sell-off in related shares Wednesday. Hewlett-Packard was off $2-1/4 to $32-3/4 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange, up from an early low of $31-1/4. Some analysts at the meeting said Hewlett-Packard had set the bar high by hewing to its aggressive growth forecast, especially after it missed fourth-quarter earnings projections by nearly 20 percent. ``Personally, I wish they had taken a more conservative approach...(that) would have made it easier on themselves,'' said George Elling of Lehman Brothers. Bear Stearns analyst Andy Neff said that it is ``still too early to call'' whether Hewlett-Packard can meet its full-year target. ``They said what they were going to do and they didn't do it. Now they've said what they're going to do, let's see if they do it,'' he said. SHIELDED BY RANGE OF OFFERINGS Fiorina, who joined the company a year ago, said it remains on its forecast track because of stronger corporate server and data storage sales and the implementation of a company-wide program to track and control costs. ``We think a soft-landing (in the economy) is very likely,'' she said. ``But if there were to be a hard landing, the balance in our portfolio positions us very well.'' In the past fiscal year, Hewlett-Packard saw explosive growth of 100 percent in its low-end UNIX servers, but its older series of high-end servers sold more slowly, giving competitor Sun Microsystems (NasdaqNM:SUNW - news) ``a hole big enough to drive a truck through,'' Fiorina said. The recent revamp of its UNIX servers should tighten a ''two-horse race'' between Hewlett-Packard and Sun in that market, said Fiorina, who projected 20 percent growth in server and storage sales in the fiscal year. ``This is the year when the heavy lifting starts to pay off,'' Fiorina said. Chief financial officer Bob Wayman said ``the surprise element'' in the last quarter's earnings release had been ''completely unacceptable.'' ``We are bringing in new tools to support better visibility and manageability,'' he said.