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Hewlett Packard (HPE) to Report Q4 Earnings: What's in Store?

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE - Free Report) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2021 results on Nov 30.

For the quarter, Hewlett Packard projects non-GAAP earnings between 44 cents and 52 cents per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 49 cents, indicating a year-over-year jump of 32.4%.

The consensus mark for quarterly revenues is pinned at $7.40 billion, suggesting an increase of 2.6% from the year-ago period.

Hewlett Packard’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 15.1%.

In the last reported quarter, HPE delivered non-GAAP earnings of 46 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.9% and were higher than the prior-year quarter’s earnings of 36 cents.

Net revenues of $6.9 billion were up 1% on a year-over-year basis and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Let’s see how things have shaped up before the upcoming announcement.

Factors at Play

Hewlett Packard’s fiscal fourth-quarter performance is likely to have gained from the ongoing digital transformation and higher demand for cloud networking owing to the pandemic-induced remote working wave.

Increased investments in data-center infrastructure, modernization of business applications and IT operations are also expected to have driven fourth-quarter revenues. The projected year-over-year rise is likely to reflect favorable comparison from the pandemic-hit year-ago quarter’s performance.

Hewlett Packard’s top line is likely to have gained from the strong momentum in the as-a-service platform and significant contributions from growth businesses, such as high-performance computing & modular cooling systems and Intelligent Edge. Moreover, higher demand for HPE’s edge-to-cloud and software-as-a-service data storage solutions in the pandemic-induced remote-working environment is anticipated to have been a key growth driver.

Furthermore, the solid adoption of Aruba ESP (Edge Services Platform), which provides edge-to-cloud connectivity as a service and its cloud services arm, HPE GreenLake, is expected to have driven revenues. On its second-quarter fiscal 2021 earnings conference call, Hewlett Packard stated that  Aruba ESP has been adding 150 new customers every day and the total number of customers have crossed the 100,000 mark.

In the fourth quarter, Hewlett Packard’s acquisition of Silver Peak is likely to have added enhancements to the Aruba ESP cloud solutions and driven the expansion of its enterprise clientele. Silver Peak contributed about 700 basis points toward the growth of Intelligent Edge revenues in the third quarter.

Hewlett Packard’s  gross margin is likely to have further improved during the fourth quarter, driven by a strong pricing discipline, benefits from a positive mix shift toward high-margin software-rich businesses, cost takeouts and automation. Also, the savings from its cost-optimization plan and a continued focus on improving productivity are anticipated to have boosted the company’s operating margin in the quarter under review.

However, continued supply-chain constraints are likely to have hurt Hewlett Packard’s sales growth in the quarter under review. On its third-quarter fiscal 2021 earnings call, the company stated that the industry will continue to witness supply-chain constraints for at least the first half of 2022. Thus, manufacturing partners will not be able to spring back to the pre-pandemic level for the next two to three quarters.

A persistent decline in the tier-1 server shipments might have been a downside for Hewlett Packard  during the to-be-reported quarter. Also, foreign-exchange headwinds are expected to have been concerns along with the several organizations shifting to cloud computing due to their maintenance-free and cost-effective structure compared with standalone servers. This trend is likely to have negatively impacted HPE’s financial performance during the quarter in discussion.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for Hewlett Packard this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. However, that’s not the case here.

Though Hewlett Packard currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1, it has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks With Favorable Combinations

Per our model, PVH Corporation (PVH - Free Report) , AutoZone (AZO - Free Report) and Lululemon Athletica (LULU - Free Report) have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming releases.

PVH Corporation is slated to report third-quarter fiscal 2022 results on Dec 1. The PVH stock sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has an Earnings ESP of +1.61% at present. PVH Corporation’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate thrice in the preceding four quarters while missing the same on one occasion, the average surprise being 177.5%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its quarterly earnings is pegged at $2.07 per share, suggesting a year-over-year improvement of 56.8%. PVH Corporation’s quarterly revenues are estimated to increase 13.4% year over year to $2.40 billion.

AutoZone carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has an Earnings ESP of +2.78%. The company is scheduled to report first-quarter fiscal 2022 results on Dec 7. AutoZone’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 18.6%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AZO’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at $20.65 per share, indicating a year-over-year decline of 11%. The consensus mark for revenues is pinned at $3.33 billion, calling for a year-over-year decrease of 5.6%.

Lululemon currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has an Earnings ESP of +1.44%. It is set to report third-quarter fiscal 2022 results on Dec 9. Lululemon’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 25.2%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lululemon’s third-quarter earnings is pinned at $1.39 per share, suggesting year-over-year growth of 19.8%. LULU is estimated to report revenues of $1.43 billion, which suggests an increase of 28.1% from the year-ago quarter.

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