Hewlett-Packard Co is warning that its second-quarter numbers will fall well short of Wall Street expectations. The company says although it saw respectable revenue and order growth during the quarter, preliminary results show it will post earnings of $0.65 per share, down more than 13% from the year-ago period and far from the $0.77 consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call. HP, which reports its quarterly earnings weeks after the usual spate of company announcements, is echoing a refrain heard frequently in the past two months. It blames the shortfall on pricing pressures in its PC business and a product mix that leaned toward lower margin offerings – factors that have hit many of the industry heavyweights. HP says another well-known scapegoat, the Asian financial crisis, also affected a number of businesses, particularly measurement systems, products which normally have higher margins. The quarter’s financials will also be hit by a handful of one-time charges stemming from printer manufacturing consolidations in North America, the Heartstream acquisition and other activities. HP won’t comment on the full impact of the charges, as it says it’s still trying to work that out. Ahead of the warning HP’s shares had been steadily climbing. They rose $1.75 on Wednesday to $81.625 after climbing about $10 in the past two weeks. HP has been trumpeting its business recently, claiming its still aims to be the number one PC vendor by 2000. Full results for the quarter are due on Monday.
