Stocks of Hewlett-Packard (HP) took a beating and plummeted 5 percent after the company announced its chief executive officer, Dion Weisler, will quit his post effective November 1 because of "family health matters."
Weisler will be replaced by Enrique Lores, president of the HP's printing and solutions unit and who has worked with the company for three decades.
HP's shares were down after the company reported that it did not hit their sales target for the third quarter this year. Earnings came in at 58 cents a share, though exceeding projections by Wall Street analysts by 3 cents, sales came in at $14.6 billion, missing estimates by $20 million.
The Palo Alto, CA-based firm has been in the doldrums with weak consumables sales in Europe, Middle East, and Africa otherwise known as the EMEA market, and HP's performance in the last three months indicate its efforts to put the company back in a competitive mode does not look too easy.
Despite the downturn, the company said it continues to provide solid free cash flow and non-generally accepted accounting principles growth while sustaining its earnings-per-share forecast. "We deliver industry-leading innovation across our portfolio," Weisler said, adding that he is confident in taking the right steps "to position the company for the future."
Weisler has been HP's top boss since 2015. He was appointed as president of printing and computing division after it was separated from the hardware and services unit that is now being run by the HP Enterprise. The company's share price has grown from under $12 in the last quarter of 2015 when he took over to around $19 at Thursday's close.
The company disclosed that Weisler will return home to Australia, but will work with HP until January. He will remain as a board member of HP until its next yearly meeting. Weisler said that working with HP as top chief executive "is the highlight of my career, and I want to thank the entire HP team for the support they have shown me... this is the most difficult choice of my career," he said in a prepared statement.
HP posted a $14.7 billion current quarter sales, in line with Wall Street expectations, and ahead of the company's previous quarter guidance of 53 to 56 cents. HP hit a 3.2 percent revenue boost in its Personal Systems Business, including advances of 9 percent in desktop computers and workstations. For the fiscal year ending October, HP sees a non-GAAP profit of $2.19 to $2.23 per share, up from a previous level of $2.14 to $2.22/share.
