Tech bellwether Hewlett-Packard third-quarter profit jumps 14 per cent

By The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - Hewlett-Packard Co. says its third-quarter profit jumped 14 per cent, beating Wall Street's expectations.

Strong laptop sales and a robust international presence continue to lift the technology bellwether.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company's fourth-quarter outlook was also slightly better than investors expected.

HP says it earned US$2.03 billion, or 80 cents per share, in the May-July period. That's up from $1.78 billion, or 66 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time charges, HP earned 86 cents per share, three cents higher than the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Sales were $28.0 billion, a 10 per cent increase over last year and higher than the $27.4 billion analysts were expecting.