HP results top Wall Street targets

By Robert MacMillan and Eric Auchard

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N) results beat Wall Street targets as net profit rose 14 percent, subduing fears that slowing economies and a stronger dollar would weaken the world's biggest computer and printer maker and its rivals.

Shares rose 2.8 percent in after-hours trading on Tuesday after HP posted solid fiscal third-quarter international sales and forecast fourth-quarter earnings ahead of expectations.

Signs that weakness in the U.S. economy is spreading have unnerved investors and Wall Street over the possibility that technology customers would cut budgets and trim tech companies' profits in the process.

"The latest round of results means big-cap information technology companies are going to make it through the rest of the year," said Cowen & Co analyst Louis Miscioscia.

Results in the profitable printer division were not as rosy, but analysts were generally positive on the quarterly report.

HP reported net income for the quarter ending July 31 of $2.03 billion (1.09 billion pounds), or 80 cents a share. Excluding items, HP reported profit of 86 cents a share, ahead of the average analyst expectation of 84 cents a share.

Revenue rose 10.5 percent to $28.0 billion, or roughly 2 percent ahead of Wall Street's average expectations. Without the benefit of international currency translation, revenue grew only half that rate at 4.7 percent.

The Palo Alto, California-based company forecast fiscal fourth-quarter profit, excluding items, of $1.01 to $1.03 a share, ahead of the average analyst view of $1. The company forecast revenue of $30.2 billion to $30.3 billion, slightly behind the average forecast of $30.4 billion.