On The Fly: What to watch in HP Inc.'s earnings report

HP Inc. (HPQ) is scheduled to report results of its fiscal first quarter after the market close on February 22, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET. What to watch for: 1. EPS CONSENSUS DOWN A TICK: Along with its last report, HP Inc. guided for Q1 adjusted earnings per share in the range of 35c-38c. At the time, analysts expected the company to report Q1 EPS of 38c, but that estimate has since fallen slightly to 37c. In addition, HP Inc. also guided for fiscal 2017 adjusted EPS in the range of $1.55-$1.65. At the time, analysts expected the company to report FY17 EPS of $1.60, but that figure has since slipped a bit to $1.59. 2. PERSONAL SYSTEMS: In its fourth quarter earnings report, HP Inc. reported Q4 Personal Systems revenue of $8.02B, up 4% year over year and up 5% in constant currency. The increase in revenue for the segment follows from the third quarter, when the company reported Personal Systems revenue of $7.5B, which was flat year-over-year but up 7.5% sequentially. Looking ahead, HP Inc. noted in its Q4 earnings conference call that it expects Personal Systems shortages to continue in Q1. 3. TRUMP IMMIGRATION ORDER: Following U.S. president Donald Trump's controversial executive order on immigration restriction, HP Inc. chairwoman and HP Enterprise (HPE) chief executive officer Meg Whitman told employees in an email that the companies will "continue to advocate for immigration policies that recognize America's core principles and the contributions immigrants make to our collective strength and prosperity," Axios reported late last month. Whitman noted in the email that "only a small number" of HP's employees are directly affected by the order. In addition, the Verge reported that HP Inc. was one of the nearly 100 initial signees of an amicus filing supporting Washington State in its opposition to Trump's immigration actions. 4. PC SHIPMENTS: Global PC shipments totaled 72.6M units in the fourth quarter of 2016, marking a 3.7% year-over-year decline from the fourth quarter of the previous year, according to preliminary results by Gartner. For the year, 2016 PC shipments totaled 269.7M units, down 6.2% year-over-year, according to Gartner. While Lenovo (LNVGY) was the leader in PC shipment market share with 21.7% in the quarter, HP Inc. was in second place with 20.4%. Dell had 14.8% market share in Q4, good for third place, beating out Apple (AAPL) and Asus, who each were estimated at 7.5%.