Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares take a spill on downbeat outlook

Shares in Hewlett Packard Enterprise fell as much as 6.5 per cent to $23.50 in after hours trading when revenue missed expectations and reduced its earnings outlook for the full year.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise blamed foreign exchange movements, higher commodities pricing and some “near-term execution issues” for lowering its full year 2017 outlook by 12 cents.

But Meg Whitman, president and chief executive of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, said it remains “on the right track” and would be making investments. “The steps we’re taking to strengthen our portfolio, streamline our organization, and build the right leadership team, are setting us up to win long into the future,” she said.

The company, identified by the ticker HPE, reported sales of $11.4bn, below the average analyst estimate of $12.1bn. Sales were down 10 per cent from the first quarter last year, or 4 per cent when adjusted for currency and divestitures, with revenue from servers and storage falling the most on a constant currency basis.

Non-gaap earnings per share came in at 45 cents in the first quarter, the higher end of the company’s guidance and slightly above the consensus forecast for 44 cents per share. Net income was $300m, flat from the same period the year before.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which has services spanning the cloud, cybersecurity and big data, forecast gaap diluted earnings per share of between 60 and 70 cents for the full year, down from the previous forecast of 72 to 82 cents, and reduced its prediction for non-gaap earnings per share to below the average analyst estimate of $2.05.