HPE Shares Hit On Weak Outlook; To Cut 2,500 Jobs

(RTTNews) - Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise fell around 20 percent in the after-hours trading on Thursday as well as around 22 percent in pre-market activity on the NYSE, after the data center equipment maker's first-quarter earnings missed the Street view. The firm also issued weak earnings outlook for second quarter and fiscal 2025, both below market estimates.

In its earnings call, the company further said it plan to reduce employee base 5 percent over the next 12 months to 18 months through the reduction of around 2,500 positions and expected attrition.

Antonio Neri, president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, said, "Looking ahead, we see additional opportunities to take incremental corporate cost actions to further strengthen our financial profile.... . Doing so will better align our cost structure to our business mix and long-term strategy."

The company expects to achieve at least $350 million in gross savings by fiscal 2027 with about 20 percent of the savings achieved by the end of 2025. The timing of reductions will vary by geography. Total cash charges will be around $350 million through fiscal 2026.

According CFO Marie Myers, the decision to cut workforce and attrition management will help streamline the organization, improve productivity, and speed up decision making.

Further, the HPE Board of Directors declared a regular cash dividend of $0.13 per share, payable on or about April 18, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 21.

Regarding HPE's proposed merger deal with Juniper Networks Inc., the company noted that it intends to vigorously defend against the U.S. Department of Justice's overreaching interpretation of antitrust laws in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California's next trial commencing on July 9.

On January 30, the DOJ had filed a complaint in the court seeking to block the proposed merger of HPE and Juniper Networks. On February 10, HPE and Juniper filed answers to the complaint disputing those claims.

Looking ahead, for the second quarter, HPE estimates net earnings per share to be in the range of $0.08 to $0.14 and adjusted earnings per share in the range of $0.28 to $0.34.

HPE estimates revenue to be in the range of $7.2 billion and $7.6 billion.

The Wall Street analysts on average expect the company to report earnings of $0.42 per share on revenues of $7.73 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

In its previous second quarter, HPE's earnings were $0.24 per share, adjusted earnings were $0.42 per share, and revenues were $7.20 billion.

Further, for fiscal 2025, HPE estimates net earnings per share in the range of $1.15 and $1.35, and adjusted earnings per share in the range of $1.70 to $1.90.

The full-year revenue growth is projected to be 7 percent to 11 percent, in constant currency.

Analysts expect earnings of $1.97 per share on revenues of $32.54 billion for the year.

In fiscal 2024, earnings per share were $1.93, adjusted earnings per share were $1.99 and revenues were $30.13 billion.

In its first quarter, HPE's earnings increased from the same period last year but missed the Street estimates.

The company's earnings totaled $598 million or $0.44 per share, compared with $387 million, or $0.29 per share, last year.

Adjusted earnings were $684 million or $0.49 per share for the period. Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.50 per share.

The company's revenue for the period rose 16.3 percent to $7.854 billion from $6.755 billion last year.

Server revenue was $4.3 billion, up 29 percent from the prior-year period on a reported basis, and up 30 percent in constant currency. Hybrid Cloud revenue was $1.4 billion, up 10 percent, while Intelligent Edge revenue fell 5 percent.

In the extended trading on the NYSE, HPE shares fell 20.2 percent to $14.33, following a 5 percent decline on Thursday's regular trading.

In pre-market activity, the shares were down 21.6 percent to trade at $14.09.

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