HPE raises FY 2022 outlook after Q1 revenue doubled year-over-year

Hewlett Packard Enterprise reported that total revenues for the first quarter of its 2022 fiscal year reached $6.96 billion, up a modest 2% from the $6.83 billion posted for the year-ago quarter. 

The company’s Intelligent Edge segment was once again a star of this quarter’s revenue production, rising 11% from the prior-year period to contribute $901 million. 

High Performance Computing & Artificial Intelligence, meanwhile, grew a more modest 4% to drive $790 million in Q2 revenues.

More: HPE buys Determined AI, aims to meld model training with its HPC portfolio

Despite the relatively minor spikes in segment and overall revenues, earnings shot up to $513 million on decreasing expenses and interest costs, more than doubling the $223 posted for the same period in the previous year and producing earnings per share of $0.39, compared to Q1 2021’s $0.17. 

HPE noted that it continued to be impacted during the quarter by ongoing supply chain constraints, but claims to have weathered them well, as indicated by its 33.7% growth in gross margins since 2021’s first quarter. 

Antonio Neri, president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, said the quarter “was characterized by robust customer demand and profitability, demonstrating the strength of our differentiated edge-to-cloud strategy and portfolio innovation.”

The exec also noted that this is the third consecutive quarter his company has achieved 20% or higher order growth on a year-over-year basis. 

This continued expansion of customer demand led HPE to raise its FY 2022 outlook to include an expected, diluted EPS of $0.18 to $0.26 for the coming second quarter, with full-year earnings per share now having been raised from their previous predicted range of  $1.36 to $2.03 to a new range of to $1.50 to $2.17. 

On the back of these results, the company’s board of directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, which will be payable on April 8, 2022. It also announced plans to initiate new share repurchases that, when added to this disbursement, will total $284 million. 

More: HPE to acquire data management platform Zerto

HPE’s shares were trading at $15.70 by the end of the business day. This was up slightly from their position at $15.38 when the market closed, but down from the momentary peak of $15.75 they traded at shortly after the press release was published.