H-P swings to quarterly profit, but sales dip
(4:19 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ, -1.00% shares rose more than 6% in after-hours trading Tuesday following the tech giant's fiscal fourth-quarter results. After the market closed, H-P said that for the quarter ended Oct. 31, it earned 73 cents a share on $29.1 billion in revenue, compared with a loss of $3.49 a share on sales of $30 billion in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, H-P would have earned $1.01 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast H-P to earn $1 a share on revenue of $27.86 billion. For its fiscal first quarter, H-P estimates it will earn between 82 cents and 86 cents a share, while analysts had earlier forecast a profit of 85 cents a share.
H-P among tech decliners with earnings on tap
(9:57 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks were mixed in early trading Tuesday as the sector awaited the latest earnings report from Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ, -1.00% due after the close of trading. H-P shares slipped by 9 cents, to $25.23 ahead of the tech giant's fiscal fourth-quarter results. Analysts surveyed by FactSet estimate H-P to report a profit of $1 a share on revenue of $27.86 billion. Among other leading tech stocks, losses came from Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -0.80% Facebook Inc. FB, +2.70% and Netflix Inc. NFLX, -0.68% while Apple Inc. AAPL, +0.96% and Qualcomm Inc. QCOM, +0.00% edged upward. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.06% was at its breakeven point of 3,994.
Barnes & Noble drops on second-quarter sales miss
(9:01 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Barnes & Noble Inc. BKS, -1.53% dropped 3% in premarket trade Tuesday after it reported an 8% decline in second-quarter revenue. The company said second-quarter profit rose to $13.2 million, or 15 cents a share, from $501 million, or a loss of 7 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Total revenue fell to $1.73 billion from $1.88 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected a loss of 3 cents on sales of $1.76 billion. Retail segment revenues fell 7.5% to $921.0 million and the company said part of the reason for the 3.7% decline in core same-store bookstore sales was a year-ago boost from sales of the "Fifty Shades of Grey" series. The company reaffirmed its guidance of retail same-store sales to fall in the high single digits.
Tiffany shares jump 6.2% on bright profit outlook
(7:15 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Tiffany & Co. TIF, -1.09% reported its third-quarter profit rose 50% to $94.6 million, or 73 cents a share, from $63.2 million, or 49 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $911.5 million, from $852.7 million a year earlier, the retailer said Tuesday. Same-store sales were up 7% in the third quarter, with the firm also saying it had successfully put into place cost-control efforts. Analysts had expected earnings of 58 cents a share on revenue of $888 million, according to FactSet. The jewelry company also raised its full-year outlook to a range $3.65 to $3.75 from a previous range of $3.50 to $3.60. Shares in Tiffany were up 6.2% in premarket trading.