HP NYSE HPQ 1st quarter 2010 results back to printing green!

HPs earnings came out today after the markets closed and the company reported some major good news. In addition to an overall 25% profit increase, exceeding analyst consensus expectations, and updated positive guidance looking ahead, the Imaging and Printing Group enjoyed an impressive turnaround.

In all but two of the unit sales and revenues categories HP reports for IPG, including overall supplies revenues, commercial and consumer units sold and revenues, printer-based MFPs and Indigo digital press pages, their first quarter numbers showed ear-to-year quarterly increases versus year-to-year decreases for Q4 2009, and in many cases, for a number of quarters before that. The only two exceptions? Color laser printers were still down, but by a trifling 1%, and Indigo pages registered an up-tick over Q4s (and recent historys) consecutive series of gains.

More on the commentary in a coming blog post, but for now, congrats HP!

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HP NYSE HPQ Printer Metrics end of year FY08 edition

After the markets close yesterday, HP (NYSE HPQ) announced its previously-pre-announced earnings for Fourth Quarter FY08. The overall numbers were quite heartening in this era of economic fear and doubt (see "Hewlett-Packard confirms earnings, backs outlook"), and the numbers from Imaging and Printing Group (details below) was more of a mixed bag.

Fourth-quarter IPG revenues actually declined one percent, compared to Q407, and with the companys overall revenues continuing to show very healthy increases, the printer units proportion of company sales shrinks again. Margins, however, remain robust for IPG, contributing nearly half of HPs profit dollars.

And its always interesting to see which details HP chooses to share about the business. Color laser printers were reported as DOWN a few percentage points, but with HPs emphasis on its inkjet technologies both high and low, one wonders if this is a bragging point (lower lasers mean higher inkjet sales?). Both consumer and commercial hardware units showed year-to-year sales declines, and with supplies up another 9%, that category now represents nearly two-thirds (64%) of overall IPG revenues. And HPs interest in wireless printers (see "HP is Wild About Wireless") is confirmed by its inclusion in the metrics matrix for the first time.

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A little pressure on HP NYSE HPQ printer results

Marketwatch has an article by Rex Crum entitled "PCs and printers to highlight H-P earnings report" which is a change, from a printer perspective. Followers of recent HP earnings communications will know that printers dont typically get a lot of play, including from the HP (NYSE HPQ) executives explaining the quarterly numbers, and from the press and analyst community covering the company. (There are exceptions to this, naturally.) This is especially true on the revenue side. The very healthy profit margins from the Imaging and Printing Group, especially those of the supplies businesses, are of course very important to HPs bottom line, and tracked and discussed somewhat more carefully. But still, the HP vs Dell (NASDAQ DELL) battle in the PC sector generally gets the most attention.

Looking at the Second Quarter of 2008, Crums piece quotes a group of Banc of America analysts who are watching HP printer revenue numbers a little more closely this time. (Earnings will be announced after the markets close on the 15th.)

At Banc of America Securities, a group of analysts see "some challenges in printing hardware," and believe that this could provide H-P with a challenge in growing sales of printer units. B. of A. believes that H-Ps imaging and printing group will report sales of $7.48 billion, for an increase of 4% from a year ago, and there is some risk to the company meeting revenue estimates.

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