Hewlett-Packard Jumps on Q2 Results; Announces 27,000 Lay Offs

Beaten down tech giant Hewlett-Packard

released its fiscal second-quarter earnings results after the closing bell on Wednesday. The Palo Alto, California-based company reported net income of $1.6 billion or $0.80 per share, compared to net income of $2.3 billion or $1.07 per share, in the year ago period. On an adjusted basis, net income was $1.95 billion or $0.98 per share, versus $2.72 billion or $1.24 per share, in last year's second-quarter. This came in ahead of Wall Street analysts' consensus EPS estimates of $0.91. Revenues in the quarter were $30.7 billion versus $31.63 billion last year. This exceeded analysts' consensus sales estimates of $29.92 billion. Looking forward, HPQ said that it expects third-quarter EPS in a range of $0.94 to $0.97. This compares to analysts' current consensus of $1.02. Hewlett-Packard also lowered its full-year 2012 EPS guidance to a range of $2.25 to $2.30 versus its previous estimate of around $3.20. The company, however, raised its adjusted EPS estimates to a range of $4.05 to $4.10 versus its prior estimate of $4.00. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $4.03 per share in fiscal 2012. The company also announced that it would be laying off 27,000 employees in order to cut costs. Last week, HPQ management said that CEO Meg Whitman intended to cut up to 30,000 members of the company's 324,000 person workforce. In Wednesday's after hours trading session, HPQ shares have surged 11.76% to $23.56.