H-P Posts Big Numbers Despite Slowing Market

Hewlett-Packard thumbed its nose at concerns over falling tech spending today, posting a 38% rise in earnings and 15% revenue jump in its first quarter, the Wall Street Journal reports. The health of the tech giant, boosted by PC and overseas sales, is good news for an industry whose leaders, including Microsoft and Google, don’t expect a booming 2008.

In a tough environment, “Hewlett-Packard is an execution machine,” says an analyst. The company’s success is thanks in part to new CEO Mark Hurd, under whom H-P has consistently beaten expectations. Despite a good quarter, however, Hurd admits that US PC sales growth is “probably not quite as robust as we've seen in the past.” (More Hewlett Packard stories.)