HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Net revenue was $13.8 billion in the quarter, down 6% nominally and 5% in constant currency. Year-over-year declines improved sequentially across each of our regions in constant currency: Americas declined 6%; EMEA declined 2%; and APJ declined 8%, as demand remained soft in China. Gross margin was 21.6% in the quarter, up 3.4 points year-on-year, primarily due to lower component and logistics costs and a favorable mix, partially offset by currency and competitive pricing in Personal Systems. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $1.7 billion. The year-over-year increase in operating expenses was driven primarily by reinvestment of some Future Ready savings in growth initiatives, investment in people and one extra month of Poly, offset in part by structural and other cost reductions.

Non-GAAP operating profit was $1.2 billion, up 11.5%. Non-GAAP net OI&E expense was $173 million, up sequentially due largely to higher currency losses and up year-on-year due to higher currency losses and factoring costs. Non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share increased $0.08 or 10% to $0.90, with a diluted share count of approximately 1 billion shares. Non-GAAP diluted net earnings per share excludes a net benefit totaling $72 million, primarily related to tax adjustment related credits and pension and post-retirement benefit, partially offset by restructuring and other charges, amortization of intangibles and acquisition and divestiture-related charges. As a result, Q4 GAAP diluted net earnings per share was $0.97. Now, let’s turn to segment performance.

In Q4, Personal Systems revenue was $9.4 billion, down 8% or 7% in constant currency, but up 5% sequentially, reflecting seasonal strength ahead of the holiday season. Total units were flat on a net basis with Commercial down 6% and Consumer up 9%. Nevertheless, we improved our overall market share in calendar Q3 on a year-over-year basis for the third consecutive quarter. And year-over-year Commercial revenue declines stabilized sequentially even as Commercial customers remain cautious. Drilling into the details, Consumer revenue was down 1% and Commercial was down 11%, driven by lower TAM, increased competitive pricing and unfavorable mix, offset in part by market share gains in both Consumer and Commercial. Strong profit and margin results in both customer segments were driven by our emphasis on profitable growth and effective cost management.

Competitive pricing pressures eased somewhat in Q4, resulting in increased ASPs, contributing to the sequential improvement in Personal Systems revenue this quarter, consistent with our outlook. Our channel inventory is back to normalized levels. Personal Systems delivered $631 million of operating profit with operating margins of 6.7%. Our margin increased 2.5 points year-over-year, primarily due to lower commodity and logistics costs and structural cost savings. This was partially offset by mix, currency and investment in people. Sequentially, our operating margin held firm towards the high-end of our target range, driven by strong profitability in both our Consumer and Commercial business segments. In Print, our results reflect our continued focus on execution and disciplined cost management, as we navigate a weak and competitive print market.

In Q4, total Print revenue was $4.4 billion, down 3% nominally or 2% in constant currency. The decline was driven by soft demand in both Consumer and Commercial, market share loss and currency, offset partially by supplies revenue growth. Hardware revenue was down $188 million, driven by lower volumes, attributable largely to continued soft demand in Greater Asia and China and share loss as our Japanese competitors continued to price aggressively. Total hardware units decreased 19% year-over-year. Industrial graphics finished the year positively with revenue returned to growth in Q4, driven by hardware and services with performance improvements across all major geographical regions. By customer segment, Commercial revenue decreased 4% on a reported basis and in constant currency with units down 24%.

Consumer revenue decreased 21% or down 19% in constant currency with units down 18%. Demand for traditional home ink printers remain soft but was offset partially by increased demand for big tank printers. In office hardware, ASPs were up double-digit year-over-year as favorable mix, offset competitive pricing and currency headwinds driven by improved contractual A3 demand across multiple markets. Supplies revenue was $2.8 billion, increasing 3% nominally and 4% in constant currency. For FY ’23, supplies revenue declined 1% on a constant currency basis, in-line with our long-term outlook of down low- to mid-single digits. Print operating profit was approximately $836 million, down 6% year-over-year, and operating margin was 18.9%, Operating margin decreased 0.8 points, driven by investments in people, competitive pricing and unfavorable currency, partially offset by favorable mix and cost reductions.

Turning to our Future Ready transformation plan. We successfully completed the first year of our three-year program and delivered better-than-expected performance against our goals for fiscal year ’23. Given the strong progress we made during the year and confidence we have to drive additional structural cost savings, we recently raised our cumulative program target to $1.6 billion. In FY ’23, we generated gross annual run rate structural cost savings across COGS and OpEx, exceeding our revised target. Let me briefly recap some key accomplishments across each of the three core pillars of our program that we achieved during fiscal ’23. Under our operational excellence pillar, we continue to optimize and reduce structural costs across our businesses, particularly in corporate.