The manufacturer recorded total sales of $15.3bn (£11.6bn) for the three-month period to 31 July 2021, up by 7% year-on-year but down by 3.8% on the Q2 figure of $15.9bn.
Revenue in the firm’s printing division (including office, consumer and graphics) was up 24% year-on-year, from $3.93bn in Q3 last year to $4.88bn. Sales were down 8%, however, on the previous quarter’s figure of $5.32bn.
HP’s commercial hardware sales (which includes graphics solutions and 3D printing) jumped by 46% year-on-year from $732m to $1.07bn, though this was down 1% on the $1.09bn figure recorded in the previous quarter.
Consumer hardware sales were up by 15% year-on-year, from $628m to $720m, but down on the previous quarter’s figure of $901m. Q3 sales of supplies, the largest part of the division by revenue, were up 20% year-on-year to $3.09bn but down 7% on the previous quarter’s figure of $3.34bn.
HP’s personal systems division, it's largest operation comprising workstations, notebooks, desktops and other, saw net revenue remain flat year-on-year at $10.4bn but down 1% on the previous quarter’s figure of $10.6bn.
The company’s Q3 net earnings climbed from $734m, or 52 cents per share, a year ago, to $1.11bn, or 92 cents per share.
Profits in the printing segment leapt by 78.5% year-on-year, from $480m to $857m, but this was down on the $951m recorded in Q2. Profits in personal systems, meanwhile, jumped by 52.5% from $570m to $869m. This was also up on the previous quarter, where a figure of $710m was reported.
The company’s overall profits climbed by 76.6% year-on-year, from $751m to $1.33bn, although this was down slightly on the $1.34bn figure recorded in Q2.
In a webcast held following the publication of the results yesterday afternoon (26 August), HP president and chief executive Enrique Lores said: “The hybrid world taking shape is expanding our addressable market and creating new opportunities to drive profitable growth. We have already started to capitalise on this and have a long runway ahead.
“This is evident in our Q3 performance. We delivered another quarter of top and bottom-line growth with EPS [earnings per share] growing substantially faster than revenue. This reflects continued progress against our strategic priorities and strong and sustained demand for our products and services.”
He added: “The hybrid world is accelerating trends in our segments, and our leadership across commercial and consumer categories positions as well, even as demand continues to outpace supply.”
He said the company is also continuing “to ship as much product as we can, while navigating a complex operational environment”.
“We are managing through component shortages, Covid-related factory lockdowns in South East Asia, and congested ports and transportation disruptions. Even under these conditions we delivered solid financial results.
“We are performing while transforming our business models and service offerings to capitalise on emerging growth opportunities. We have continued to make progress, reducing our fixed cost structure, evolving our business model, and creating new growth businesses.”
He added HP had seen “a recovery” in commercial printing, and that the company was expanding its printing services and subscription offerings.
HP Inc’s share price stood at $28.92 at the time of writing this afternoon, down from a close of $29.10 following the publication of the results yesterday. It had closed at $29.39 on Wednesday.
