HP reports $30.7 billion revenue, up 11 percent

Hewlett-Packard was right where Wall Street expected when it reported third-quarter revenue of $30.7 billion Thursday.

That figure is an increase of 11.4 percent from the same quarter a year ago. The PC maker also reported net earnings of $1.8 billion, or 75 cents per share, excluding costs related to a legal settlement and taxes.

That's exactly what HP said it would report when it previewed its third-quarter earnings earlier this month--the same day it announced CEO Mark Hurd was resigning. Wall Street was looking for revenue between $29.7 billion and $30.7 billion.

In a statement, Chief Financial Officer and interim CEO Cathie Lesjak said the financial results "demonstrate the power of our strategy and the discipline of our execution."

That follows the company's--and Lesjak's--same message since Hurd resigned following an accusation against him and eventual settlement with a former contractor over sexual harassment. Thursday was the first earnings report following Hurd's exit, and Lesjak made a point of emphasizing that the company will continue along the same path it's been on for the last several years even without the former CEO.

"Let me reiterate: our strategy hasn't changed," she told reporters Thursday.

"When you have a winning strategy, I don't see motivation to change it," Lesjak explained later. "It's something we've been building for the last four-plus years. It's a well-thought-out strategy that's working very well for us."

One of the bright spots during the quarter was the company's PC business. Shipments rose 12 percent, and revenue 17 percent to $9.9 billion. Revenue from notebooks increased 10 percent, but desktops did even better, with revenue up 27 percent during the quarter.

When asked when the company would be getting into the tablet market, Personal Systems Group VP Todd Bradley said that HP will have two products over the next few months. "You'll see us with a Microsoft product out in the near future and a WebOS-based product in early 2011."

The "Microsoft product" is likely the reworked Windows 7 Slate that HP first showed at CES in January but then put on the backburner as it decided what to do with newly acquired Palm and its WebOS mobile operating system.

Bradley reportedly told employeesrecently that the WebOS tablet will arrive during the first quarter of 2011.

This story last updated at 3:36 p.m. PDT with information from a conference call, and previously at 2:58 p.m. to correct net earnings for the quarter.