HP sales slip; up to 16,000 layoffs coming

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) says it is cutting another 11,000 to 16,000 jobs, above a target of 34,000 the company outlined in a multiyear restructuring plan in May 2012 and offered an outlook that was below expectations. Shares fell in Thursday's after-hours trading.

The company said in a release that the increased cuts come "as HP continues to reengineer the workforce to be more competitive and meet its objectives."

HP's CEO, Meg Whitman, said in a statement that the company's turnaround "remains on track."

"We're gradually shaping HP into a more nimble, lower-cost, more customer- and partner-centric company that can successfully compete," she said.

The company also reported that net income in the three-month period ending April 30 rose 18 percent to $1.27 billion, or 66 cents per share.

Excluding special items, adjusted earnings were 88 cents per share, meeting the expectation of analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue fell 1 percent to $27.31 billion, below the $27.43 billion analysts expected.

The company said it expects adjusted earnings of 86 cents to 90 cents per share in the current quarter, with the midpoint a penny below the 89 cents analysts are looking for. HP said full-year adjusted earnings will be between $3.63 and $3.75 per share. The midpoint is two cents below analysts' expectations of $3.71 per share.

The quarterly results were unexpectedly released early before markets closed. HP's stock dropped 74 cents, or 2.3 percent, to close at $31.78, and fell 1.8 percent to $31.20 in after-hours trading.