HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Enrique Lores : Sure. Let me start with the print side, and then Marie will talk about PC. On the print side, the minus 3% is the expected decline in the overall market for print between fiscal year ’23 and fiscal year ’22, and there are different dynamics behind that number. We are expecting the Consumer number to — the Consumer market to go down year-on-year, the office market to go slightly up and the industrial market to continue to grow like it has been growing during 2022. The net effect of all these three is a minus 3% growth year-on-year. Marie?

Marie Myers : Yes. No. With respect to revenue, I think as I said earlier with Toni’s question, we do expect to see down mid-single digits sequentially. And as we mentioned earlier, I think Enrique commented in the prepared remarks, down 10% on units, and this is obviously with an environment where you’ve got higher channel imagery, there is going to be some ASP pressure. So we do anticipate though, as you get into the second half, that should clear out the inventory that we’ll see some of the revenue adjust. But I think the way to think about it is that certainly the first half of PCs is going to be challenged. But obviously, we will be doing our best to offset all of this with an improvement in our mix. And I think we’ve demonstrated that over the last couple of quarters.

Aaron Rakers : Yes, that’s very helpful. And then I guess the follow-up was on the channel inventory discussion. I guess, do you see that channel inventory is the assumption right now that channel inventory normalizes as we get towards the mid part of calendar ’23. Any context of how you would currently characterize your own channel inventory in that?

Marie Myers : Sure. If we’re talking just Personal Systems, absolutely. We expect that the inventory will remain elevated through the first half, but then normalize in the second half. And then as I think Enrique said earlier, Print is in really good shape, both supplies and hardware.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Erik Woodring with Morgan Stanley.

Erik Woodring : I have two as well. Maybe Enrique I start with you. This is your third consecutive kind of three-year cost cutting or transformational plan, I should say, HP’s third consecutive at more than kind of $1 billion of gross cost savings, each plan. So I guess if you take a step back and you think about the last maybe almost a decade in that context. Why have the prior plans, I guess, not been enough? Or what are you doing with this specific plan that you haven’t necessarily already done, given even last summer, you talked about portfolio SKU rationalization and digital transformation. So just maybe if you could help us understand that. And then

Enrique Lores : Sure. Thank you, Erik. I would say there are two things. First is the world is in a very different position now than when it was three years ago, but also the company is in a very different position. In fact, a significant part of the savings that we are going to be able to achieve now are really driven by the investments that we have made during the last 3 years that really are enabling a significant part of it. For example, when we talk about continuing to work on the digital transformation, we can do it now because of all the investments that we have made during the last three years. Additionally to that, when we look at the return on this investment, it really brings — has very good results. We are going to be investing $1 billion, and we will get, as Mario was saying, $1.4 billion of run rate savings at the end of ’25.