HP's Q4 2011 Earnings Beat The Street, But WebOS Cost 'Em A Fortune

It's the quarter-end for HP, also known as the corporate overlord that just can't make up its mind about anything. On its second CEO this year (and third in not-too-much longer), the company's Q4 2011 earnings are nothing to scoff at. Despite the turmoil, money seems to be flowing into HP's coffers like beer out of a college keg, as the company reported net revenue of $127.4 billion, net revenue of $32.1 billion, GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.12 and cash flow from operations of $2.4 billion. Lots of "billions" in there, and remember, we're talking about a quarter.

The results actually beat the street, giving newly appointed CEO Meg Whitman a nice cushion to land on during her first quarter-end. And now that the company has announced plans to stick around in the consumer PC business, they'll be going full-bore to make sure they maintain their leads there. Of course, webOS wasn't overlooked, and the story there isn't glowing:


"Fiscal 2011 non-GAAP net revenue includes an additional $0.2 billion of revenue resulting from the exclusion of contra revenue associated with sales incentive programs implemented in the fourth quarter in connection with the wind down of HP's webOS device business, net of fourth quarter webOS device revenue. Non-GAAP earnings and operating profit information excludes after-tax costs of $3.3 billion, or $1.56 per diluted share, related to the wind down of HP's webOS device business, impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets, amortization of purchased intangible assets, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges."

Ouch. That's a ton of money to lose on an operating system that the company never actually put much stock into to begin with, and while they're officially still mulling possibilities for it, the outlook sure seems grim. Revenue in HP's commercial businesses declined 2% year over year. Revenue in HP's consumer businesses, within PSG and IPG, was collectively down 9% year over year. Services revenue of $9.3 billion grew 2% year over year with a 12.8% operating margin. Technology Services and Application Services revenue grew 3% and 2%, respectively, while IT Outsourcing revenue grew 1% and Business Process Outsourcing revenue declined 2%. Follow below for a few more highlights.
Tags:  Palm, Desktop, webOS, earnings