Here’s How HP Can Speed Up Its 5 Year Plan to Restructure
At Hewlett-Packard’s recent analyst gathering in Boston, the company’s top brass shared their plan to get the technology vendor back on the saddle. Wikibon co-founder Dave Vellante was among the insiders who got an invite to the meeting.
Vellante discussed his observations from the event with Kristin Feledy on this morning’s NewsDesk segment (full video below).
The first thing that stood out for him was that HP CEO Meg Whitman and a substantial portion of her executive team attended the event. The chief executive took to the stage with a lengthy keynote address, in which she communicated her vision for HP.
Vellante says that Whitman’s message resonated with the audience, unlike the one former CEO Leo Apotheker delivered at the company’s previous analyst gathering in 2011. She refuted rumors that HP is splitting up, detailed her efforts to reorganize the company, and promised that the vendor will be back on track within five years.
Vellante is optimistic. He notes that HP’s stock rose by 50 percent in the past few months alone, and Vellante further explains why he thinks Whitman will reach her goals in less than five years:
“I think that the prospects for turnaround are very very good for the following reasons: One: HP’s customers do want it to win, it has a very loyal customer base and HP does a good job servicing customers. HP throws off cash which is critical in this case as it’s burdened by $20B in long term debt it needs to service and pay down. Now it’s saddled by some debt, it’s got over $20 billion in long term debt it gotta pay that down. Whitman made clear during a short discussion with her, ” the top priority is to pay down that debt, more critical than stock buybacks or potential acquisitions.”
Another thing Vellante found notable was that HP’s executives were very forthcoming about Autonomy. The company recognized it overpaid and, more surprisingly, actually managed to turn the UK-based analytics firm into a genuine asset. Vellante’s final thought was his view that HP’s future success will hinge on its software investments.
See Vellante’s full analysis below:
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