Computer giant Hewlett-Packard yesterday posted a better-than-expected 14 per cent rise in net profit, subduing fears that slowing economies and a stronger dollar would weaken the sector.
The company, which currently employs about 4,000 people in the Republic where it has its five main overseas divisions, said net income for the quarter ending July 31st of $2.03 billion, or 80 cents a share.
Excluding items, HP reported profit of 86 cents a share, ahead of the average analyst expectation of 84 cents a share.
Revenue rose 10.5 percent to $28.0 billion, or roughly 2 per cent ahead of Wall Street's average expectations. Without the benefit of international currency translation, revenue grew only half that rate at 4.7 per cent.
The Palo Alto, California-based company forecast fiscal fourth-quarter profit, excluding items, of $1.01 to $1.03 a share, ahead of the average analyst view of $1.
The company forecast revenue of $30.2 billion to $30.3 billion, slightly behind the average forecast of $30.4 billion.
Revenue from outside the United States accounted for 68 percent of the total.
Adjusted for currency exchange rates, Europe, Middle East and Africa revenue rose 5 per cent, and Asia Pacific revenue rose 8 percent. Revenue in the Americas rose 3 percent.
"This pushes out the wall of worry for tech investors until another 90 days," Miscioscia said of HP's results and recent reports from other major major information technology provides such as IBM and Cisco Systems.
Next week, Dell is the last major computer maker to report this quarter but results are expected to be solid.
HP and other PC makers have been depending on strong overseas growth as US performance has lagged because of wider economic troubles.
Shares in HP rose to $44.89 in after-hours trade after closing at $43.69 on the New York Stock Exchange.