NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Hewlett-Packard(HPQ) surged in late trades Wednesday after the PC giant reports above-consensus quarterly results and unveiled plans to cut lay off a healthy chunk of its workforce over the next few years. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company reported fiscal second-quarter non-GAAP earnings of 98 cents per share on $30.70 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for earnings of 91 cents per share on $29.91 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by Estimize expected a profit of 92 cents per share on $29.54 billion in revenue. In a separate release, HP announced plans to cut 27,000 jobs, or 8% of its workforce, by 2014. The company is offering an early retirement plan as part of the restructuring ... Continue reading →

PALO ALTO, Calif. (TheStreet) -- HP(HPQ) reports its second-quarter results after market close on Wednesday, hot on the heels of disappointing numbers from Dell(DELL) and weak guidance from Cisco(CSCO). Both Dell and Cisco cited a challenging macro-economic environment in their recent results, particularly in Europe and the public sector, trends which could weigh heavily on HP. HP CEO Meg Whitman Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect HP to report revenue of $29.9 billion and earnings of 91 cents a share, compared to sales of $31.6 billion and earnings of $1.24 a share in the same period last year. Investors will be focusing their attention on HP's PC business to see whether the notebook weakness identified by Dell has reached Palo Alto. Shareholders waiting to find ... Continue reading →