Hewlett-Packard Co cut its full-year profit forecast on Tuesday, as the company faced more than a year of sluggish personal computer market and weak demand in the Chinese market, and the company’s shares fell in after-hours trading. up 5.2%.
Inflation and global economic uncertainty contributed to lower demand for consumer electronics, including personal computers, last year and led to higher inventories across the supply chain.
“While we expect continued quarter-over-quarter growth in the fourth quarter, the external environment has not improved as rapidly as we expected, so we adjusted our forecasts,” said HP CEO Enrique Lores. expected.”
Shipments of personal computers, which include desktops, notebooks and workstations, have fallen 19% in China over the past few months, according to analytics firm Canalys.
“We don’t think (the recovery in the Chinese market) is going to happen anytime soon. And at the moment, we don’t have that recovery in any of our plans,” Loures added.
HP now expects adjusted earnings per share of $3.23 to $3.35, compared with a previous forecast of $3.30 to $3.50.
The company’s third-quarter revenue fell 9.9% year-on-year to US$13.2 billion, which was lower than analysts’ expectations of US$13.37 billion.
However, the company delivered adjusted earnings of 86 cents a share, in line with analysts’ expectations, by controlling costs. Total costs and expenses were also down 8.6% compared to the same period last year. The company said it remains on track to achieve its three-year cost savings target of 40% by the end of the fiscal year.
