The report sent HPE shares down 4% in late trading. CEO Antonio Neri said in prepared remarks that the company had ended the year “with record demand for [its] edge-to-cloud portfolio,” adding that the company is “well positioned to capitalize on the significant opportunity in front of [it].” Added Neri, “In 2021, we accelerated our pivot to as-a-service, strengthened our core capabilities, and invested in bold innovation in high-growth segments.” Revenue in the three months ending in October rose 2% year over year to $7.4 billion, yielding a net profit of 52 cents a share, excluding some costs. Analysts had been modeling $7.38 billion and 48 cents per share. HPE’s Storage products revenue rose 3% to $1.3 billion, led by the company’s flash-based storage array products. HPE’s computer sales rose 1% to $3.2 billion. HPE’s revenue from its “Intelligent Edge” products rose by 4% year over year to $815 million. The company’s high-performance computing products and artificial intelligence computing products saw revenue rise 1% to $1 billion. HPE’s financial services revenue rose by 1% to $858 million. HPE said its annualized revenue run-rate rose by 36% year over year to $796 million. The company’s orders for its products that are sold “as-a-service” more than doubled. The company said the “strong customer demand and growth in orders” meant it could reiterate a forecast made last month at its analyst meeting for the ARR to rise by 35% to 45%, compounded annually, from the fiscal year just ended though its fiscal year 2024. For the current quarter, the company sees EPS, excluding some costs, in a range of 42 cents to 50 cents. That is below the average Wall Street estimate for a 49-cent profit per share, according to FactSet. For the full fiscal year 2022, the company reiterated its previously offered forecast for EPS of $1.96 to $2.10, excluding some costs. That is slightly above Wall Street’s consensus for a $2.02 profit per share. HPE also reiterated a forecast for cash flow from operations of $1.8 billion to $2 billion and a pledge to buy back at least $500 million of its shares during the fiscal year.
