Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ) Confounds You? (Me, Too!)

But tellingly, HP’s shares jumped 13% in after-hours trading following the release of the quarterly results. Further indicating that Whitman is, indeed, making sharp progress on Wall Street, HP is up 75% this year compared to the S&P 500’s 15% rise.

When Whitman took the reins, she encountered a problem-ridden outfit with sales challenges and formidable competitors at every turn.

The question is: Can HP respond to the demands of the New Silicon Valley? As The New York Times put it recently: “H.P. however, is still far from being a company with a significant future in a world of cloud computing, mobile devices and real-time analysis of lots of data. While Ms. Whitman is rebuilding cash reserves and rushing to create new products, it may be years before H.P. can make as much from new hardware and software as it used to make from older products, if it ever does.”

Is Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) half full or half empty? You’ll have to make the call. The rest of us are too confused right now.

The article HP Confounds You? (Me, Too!) originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Jon Friedman.

Fool contributor Jon Friedman has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Google.

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